Beth Jeans Houghton (a.k.a. Du Blonde) (born 3 January 1990) is an English multi-disciplinary musician, composer, artist, animator and video director. Their influences range from

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

, punk,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, 1960s

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

. They create art under their birth name, Beth Jeans Houghton, using photography, illustration, animation, video, sculpture and embroidery. They have directed and animated music videos for multiple artists including the

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

, Ezra Furman, and

Laura Marling Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is an English Folk music, folk singer-songwriter. She won the Brit Award for Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist, Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and was nominated for th ...

's band LUMP. They write, perform and produce music under the name Du Blonde.

Biography

Beth Jeans Houghton was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Houghton started writing songs in their teens. At sixteen, they left school and bought a

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

, which they taught themselves to play. Houghton first appeared in front of an audience in 2006; their debut release, titled ''EP'' (a limited-edition 7-inch), was on Bird Records in 2008. They signed then with Static Caravan Recordings, which released the single "Golden"/"Nightswimmer", produced by Adem, and their second EP, ''Hot Toast, Vol. 1'' (produced by Mike Lindsay of the band Tunng), both of which earned acclaim from the UK press. Houghton signed in early 2011 with

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller (music producer), Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure (duo), Erasure, Einstürze ...

, releasing their debut long-player, ''

Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose ''Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose'' is the debut studio album by Beth Jeans Houghton recorded with the Hooves of Destiny and released in the United Kingdom on 6 February 2012 (on 28 February 2012 in the United States), by Mute Records. The album w ...

'' in early 2012. The album was recorded with Ben Hillier whose previous production credits include Blur,

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

and

Elbow The elbow is the region between the upper arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and t ...

. ''Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose'' by Beth Jeans Houghton and the Hooves of Destiny was released on 6 February 2012, and reached number 83 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. Houghton and the Hooves of Destiny toured the UK and Europe extensively during 2011 and 2012, appearing at multiple festivals including

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

, The Great Escape,

Latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

and Bestival. In April 2012, the band performed on '' Later... with Jools Holland'' alongside

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

and Willis Earl Beal. After touring supporting '' Welcome Back To Milk'', Houghton began work on issue 1 of their comic books series 'Butt Hurt', focusing on bringing to life their vivid dreams and uncomfortable social situations. Having been a lifelong sufferer of anxiety, Houghton's work often touches upon discomfort, using humour to help ease their symptoms and dispel stigma surrounding mental health. During November 2016, Houghton directed and illustrated the animated music video for " Sick Love" by the

. Houghton had previously dated the band's singer Anthony Kiedis. The video was released on 4 December 2016. On 27 March 2018, Houghton's music video for Ezra Furman's "Suck The Blood From My Wound" was released via the Bella Union label. Houghton directed, illustrated and animated the clip. On 20 November 2018, LUMP released the video for their single "May I Be The Light", also directed, illustrated and animated by Houghton.

Du Blonde

During 2014, Houghton began writing and recording music under the name Du Blonde. '' Welcome Back To Milk'', the debut album for Houghton as Du Blonde, recorded in London and Los Angeles with producer Jim Sclavunos, was released on 19 May 2015 by

. It garnered favourable reviews, with 75/100 rating at

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. Du Blonde's second album, '' Lung Bread for Daddy'', was released on 22 February 2019 via Moshi Moshi. The album is the first to be produced by Houghton, taking a journey into relationships and mental health of the musician. Du Blonde's third album, titled ''Homecoming'', was released in early 2021. The album, self-produced by Houghton, will feature guest artists including Shirley Manson, Andy Bell, Ezra Furman, and members of Tunng. Lead single "Medicated", featuring Manson, was released in November 2020, and follow-up "I'm Glad That We Broke Up", with Furman, came out on 4 February 2021. Du Blonde's fourth album, titled ''Sniff More Gritty'', was released on 15 November 2024.

Personal life

In 2013, Houghton suffered from anxiety. Of their practice of Transcendental Meditation, begun at this time, they said, "To now know confidently I can deal with my anxiety is such a good place to be." Houghton is

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

and

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

Artists supported

* Adem *

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Vernon had originally formed Bon Iver as a solo project, but it eventually became a band consisting of Vernon (vocals, guit ...

* Bowerbirds * Cornershop * Euros Childs *

Fionn Regan Fionn Regan (born 1981) is an Irish folk musician and singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Bray, Regan came to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, '' The End of History'' in 2006. He had been releasing extended plays for si ...

* Future Islands *

Garbage Garbage, trash (American English), rubbish (British English), or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or ...

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the New wave music, new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two st ...

* Imogen Heap * King Creosote *

Mumford & Sons Mumford & Sons are a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, double bass, bass guitar), and Ben Lovett (British musician), B ...

* Mystery Jets * Phosphorescent *

Scott Matthews Scott Matthews is an English singer-songwriter from Wolverhampton, England.

* St. Vincent * Stephen Fretwell * Tinariwen * Tunng

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (2012) no. 83 UK *'' Welcome Back to Milk'' (2015, as Du Blonde) *'' Lung Bread for Daddy'' (2019, as Du Blonde) *''Homecoming'' (2021, as Du Blonde) *''Sniff More Gritty'' (2024, as Du Blonde')

EPs

*''EP'' – June 2008 *''Hot Toast Vol 1'' – September 2009

Singles

*"Golden / Nightswimmer" – Static Caravan, 2009 *"Dodecahedron" – Mute, 2011 *"Sweet Tooth Bird" – Mute, 2012 *"Atlas" – Mute, 2012

References

External links

du blonde website {{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, Beth Jeans 1990 births Living people Musicians from Newcastle upon Tyne Mute Records artists British folk-pop singers English non-binary musicians English transgender musicians English LGBTQ singer-songwriters LGBTQ animators Non-binary singer-songwriters Transgender singer-songwriters Transgender non-binary people 21st-century English singer-songwriters 21st-century English LGBTQ people