Biography
Beth Jeans Houghton distinguishes herself through multifaceted talents spanning music composition, animation, and video direction, with her output growing more personal amid increasing independence. Recording under her birth name, she fused acoustic guitar, samples, keyboards, and glam rock into an anti-folk approach tilted toward fantasy over realism; the 2012 album Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose anchored those imaginative impulses with silvery vocals and empathetic songwriting. As Du Blonde, she redirected her gift for immersing audiences by pairing punk, blues, garage rock, and soul textures with cathartic material on releases such as the self-produced 2019 set Lung Bread for Daddy.
Houghton entered the world in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and began writing and performing while still a teenager. A self-taught guitarist, she first took the stage in 2006 and later shared bills with artists including Imogen Heap, St. Vincent, and Euros Childs. That year Bird Records issued her self-titled debut single as a limited-edition 7". The next year she signed with Static Caravan Recordings, which released the single Golden/Nightswimmer and the EP Hot Toast, Vol. 1, produced by Tuung's Mike Lindsay.
Despite the praise those early releases attracted, Houghton remained largely silent until 2011, when reports surfaced that she had moved to Los Angeles and signed to Mute Records. Her debut album, Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose—produced by Ben Hillier and recorded with her band the Hooves of Destiny—moved from ethereal folk-pop to freer-ranging tracks and reached number 83 on the U.K. Albums Chart upon its February 2012 release. In November of that year she and the Hooves of Destiny started work on a second album, yet Houghton discarded the project after the first sessions.
Following a period of severe anxiety, she spent much of 2013 traveling across the United States. A Pacific Coast trip with Future Islands' Samuel T. Herring generated several songs that seeded her new incarnation, the swaggering rock of Du Blonde. She recorded the first Du Blonde album, Welcome Back to Milk, in London and Los Angeles with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds drummer Jim Sclavunos serving as producer. The set, which featured the Herring collaboration "Mind Is on My Mind," appeared in May 2015.
After touring that album, Houghton launched additional projects that encompassed her comic book series Butt Hurt and directing plus animating videos for artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ezra Furman, and LUMP. Having sought treatment for lifelong anxiety and depression in early 2018, she began the second Du Blonde album. Recording took place in London and Oakland, California, where she assumed production duties, played most instruments, and collaborated with bassist Jorgen Jorgenson Briggs and drummer Sam Durkes. The resulting, unflinching Lung Bread for Daddy surfaced on Moshi Moshi in February 2019.
Houghton entered the world in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and began writing and performing while still a teenager. A self-taught guitarist, she first took the stage in 2006 and later shared bills with artists including Imogen Heap, St. Vincent, and Euros Childs. That year Bird Records issued her self-titled debut single as a limited-edition 7". The next year she signed with Static Caravan Recordings, which released the single Golden/Nightswimmer and the EP Hot Toast, Vol. 1, produced by Tuung's Mike Lindsay.
Despite the praise those early releases attracted, Houghton remained largely silent until 2011, when reports surfaced that she had moved to Los Angeles and signed to Mute Records. Her debut album, Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose—produced by Ben Hillier and recorded with her band the Hooves of Destiny—moved from ethereal folk-pop to freer-ranging tracks and reached number 83 on the U.K. Albums Chart upon its February 2012 release. In November of that year she and the Hooves of Destiny started work on a second album, yet Houghton discarded the project after the first sessions.
Following a period of severe anxiety, she spent much of 2013 traveling across the United States. A Pacific Coast trip with Future Islands' Samuel T. Herring generated several songs that seeded her new incarnation, the swaggering rock of Du Blonde. She recorded the first Du Blonde album, Welcome Back to Milk, in London and Los Angeles with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds drummer Jim Sclavunos serving as producer. The set, which featured the Herring collaboration "Mind Is on My Mind," appeared in May 2015.
After touring that album, Houghton launched additional projects that encompassed her comic book series Butt Hurt and directing plus animating videos for artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ezra Furman, and LUMP. Having sought treatment for lifelong anxiety and depression in early 2018, she began the second Du Blonde album. Recording took place in London and Oakland, California, where she assumed production duties, played most instruments, and collaborated with bassist Jorgen Jorgenson Briggs and drummer Sam Durkes. The resulting, unflinching Lung Bread for Daddy surfaced on Moshi Moshi in February 2019.
Albums
Singles
