Du Blonde’s swaggering, heart-on-sleeve rock pairs the heavy sounds of punk, blues, garage rock, and soul with brutally confessional songwriting. Their thundering 2015 debut album Welcome Back to Milk — which featured a cameo from Future Islands’ Samuel T. Herring — laid the groundwork for 2019’s Lung Bread for Daddy, a self-produced work that reflected their music at its most freeing. The glimpses of pop that peeked through on 2021’s Homecoming (#4 in BBC Radio 6 Music’s Top Ten Albums) and 2024’s fearless, glam-tinged Sniff More Gritty sacrificed none of Du Blonde’s bravery or honesty about heartbreak and mental illness.
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Du Blonde (then known as Beth Jeans Houghton) began writing and performing while still in their teens. Alongside 4 LPs, Du Blonde has embarked on several projects that include her comic book series Butt Hurt and directing and animating music videos for artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ezra Furman, and LUMP. They have collaborated with the likes of Shirley Manson, Ezra Furman, Andy Bell, and members of Girl Ray and Tuung, and more recentlySkunk Anansie’s Skin, Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace, Maximo Park’s Paul Smith, and the Futureheads’ Ross Millard
With widespread acclaim circulating throughout the press community in recent years (The Guardian, The Times, TheSunday Times, Pitchfork, Brooklyn Vegan, NME, MOJO, Uncut, The Line of Best Fit, Clash, Loud & Quiet, Crack,Wonderland, Under The Radar, The Needle Drop, Guitar World),as well as considerable attention across BBC 6Music (Steve Lamacq -‘Homecoming’ was his 2021 album of the year, Chris Hawkins) airwaves, Du Blonde has certainly become a formidable presence within the indie landscape and will be taking her scintillating live show on the road in January and February 2025 (including a Scala, London headliner), showcasing ‘Sniff More Gritty’ in full.