Biography
Du Blonde channels a bold, emotionally direct strain of rock that fuses the raw force of punk, blues, garage rock, and soul with lyrics that confront personal turmoil without filter. Their 2015 debut album Welcome Back to Milk, which included a guest appearance by Future Islands’ Samuel T. Herring, established the foundation for the 2019 follow-up Lung Bread for Daddy, a self-produced effort that captured their sound at its most liberated. Subsequent releases Homecoming in 2021 and the 2024 album Sniff More Gritty, marked by glam influences and fearless attitude, retained the same unflinching candor regarding heartbreak and mental health struggles while allowing pop elements to surface.
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Du Blonde, originally performing as Beth Jeans Houghton, started writing and playing music during their teenage years. Bird Records put out their first single in 2006 as a limited-edition 7". In 2007 they joined Static Caravan Recordings, which issued the single “Golden/Nightswimmer” along with the EP Hot Toast, Vol. 1, produced by Tuung’s Mike Lindsay. They returned in February 2012 with Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose, an album shaped by producer Ben Hiller that moved between ethereal folk-pop and more experimental textures and reached number 83 on the U.K. Albums Chart.
Creative stagnation set in while Du Blonde worked on the successor to Cellophane Nose. After disbanding their group and discarding a completed album’s worth of recordings, they devoted much of 2013 to travel across the United States. A Pacific Coast journey alongside Future Islands’ Samuel T. Herring generated several songs that formed the core of their reimagined project. With Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds drummer Jim Sclavunos producing, Du Blonde tracked Welcome Back to Milk in London and Los Angeles; the album, released in May 2015 and featuring the Herring collaboration “Mind Is on My Mind,” marked their first release under the new name.
Once the Welcome Back to Milk touring cycle ended, Du Blonde pursued additional ventures that encompassed their comic book series Butt Hurt as well as directing and animating videos for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ezra Furman, and LUMP. Following treatment for long-standing anxiety and depression in early 2018, they began their second album. Recorded in London and Oakland, California, with Du Blonde handling production and performing most instruments alongside bassist Jorgen Jorgenson Briggs and drummer Sam Durkes, the resulting Lung Bread for Daddy appeared on Moshi Moshi in February 2019. For the next record they enlisted Shirley Manson, Ezra Furman, Andy Bell, and members of Girl Ray and Tuung. Homecoming, released in March 2021, expanded on Du Blonde’s established heavy sound with added pop and glam-rock accents. Those accents moved to center stage on Sniff More Gritty, issued in November 2024. Largely performed and entirely produced by Du Blonde, it also included contributions from Skunk Anansie’s Skin, Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace, Maximo Park’s Paul Smith, and the Futureheads’ Ross Millard.
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Du Blonde, originally performing as Beth Jeans Houghton, started writing and playing music during their teenage years. Bird Records put out their first single in 2006 as a limited-edition 7". In 2007 they joined Static Caravan Recordings, which issued the single “Golden/Nightswimmer” along with the EP Hot Toast, Vol. 1, produced by Tuung’s Mike Lindsay. They returned in February 2012 with Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose, an album shaped by producer Ben Hiller that moved between ethereal folk-pop and more experimental textures and reached number 83 on the U.K. Albums Chart.
Creative stagnation set in while Du Blonde worked on the successor to Cellophane Nose. After disbanding their group and discarding a completed album’s worth of recordings, they devoted much of 2013 to travel across the United States. A Pacific Coast journey alongside Future Islands’ Samuel T. Herring generated several songs that formed the core of their reimagined project. With Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds drummer Jim Sclavunos producing, Du Blonde tracked Welcome Back to Milk in London and Los Angeles; the album, released in May 2015 and featuring the Herring collaboration “Mind Is on My Mind,” marked their first release under the new name.
Once the Welcome Back to Milk touring cycle ended, Du Blonde pursued additional ventures that encompassed their comic book series Butt Hurt as well as directing and animating videos for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ezra Furman, and LUMP. Following treatment for long-standing anxiety and depression in early 2018, they began their second album. Recorded in London and Oakland, California, with Du Blonde handling production and performing most instruments alongside bassist Jorgen Jorgenson Briggs and drummer Sam Durkes, the resulting Lung Bread for Daddy appeared on Moshi Moshi in February 2019. For the next record they enlisted Shirley Manson, Ezra Furman, Andy Bell, and members of Girl Ray and Tuung. Homecoming, released in March 2021, expanded on Du Blonde’s established heavy sound with added pop and glam-rock accents. Those accents moved to center stage on Sniff More Gritty, issued in November 2024. Largely performed and entirely produced by Du Blonde, it also included contributions from Skunk Anansie’s Skin, Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace, Maximo Park’s Paul Smith, and the Futureheads’ Ross Millard.
Albums
Singles
