Beth Jeans Houghton - Hot Toast Vol 1

"A considerable talent, with a remarkable voice and a rare star quality" Mojo Hot Toast Vol 1 is the latest release from Beth Jeans Houghton, the Newcastle singer who, to paraphrase The Guardian, joins the dots between Gwen Stefani and Vashti Bunyan. Following the acclaimed single Golden, this release introduces Beth’s band, The Hooves Of Destiny. In no particular order, they are Dav ‘Lego’ Shiel on keys, Rory ‘Grove’ Gibson on lefty bass and Findlay ‘Vivian’ Euan Nimmo MaCaskill on violin. Produced by Tunng’s Mike Lindsay, the EP was recorded in his Play Studios, East London, in May.  In more detail:“The first track, I Will Return, I Promise, is about the moment when Wilson the football finally floats away from Tom hanks in Castaway. That always wrenches the fucking guts out of me.” “Cruel Francis is about my old mandolin player, Frank Conway. We used to take ballet classes together in our local church but he ditched me to make sweet love to his sitar, so I burned down his house.” “Hot Toast sounds like it's about a man. But it is really a metaphor for me giving up all things bread related the day I found out I was wheat intolerant.” “Anne Cramb is about a lady and her bench.” “Last but not least is Lilyputt, AKA Hooves Of The Sun. It's about running away from a guy with really big hair and having to take my shoes off to go faster.” Beth Jeans Houghton has been playing guitar since the age of 16. She’s only 19 now. In the meantime, she’s shared a stage with Devendra Banhart, supported Tunng and Tinariwen, hobnobbed with Vetiver, John Martyn, Bon Iver and Joanna Newsome and recorded a single, Golden/Nightswimmer with Adem. An album is, of course, on the way, and is being produced by Ben Hillier, the production mastermind behind Elbow’s Cast Of Thousands, Doves’s Some Cities and Blur’s Think Tank. “Originally, I wasn't sure how Ben and my music would fit together, but it does and I can't wait to get back to his cave,” says Beth. Fans should expect the unexpected: Beth Jeans Houghton is not one to sit still for too long. “I tend not to worry too much about creating music. If I make a mistake on one record, I learn from it and do something different on the next. I plan to dip my toes into many genres before I quit this mortal coil. I don't define my music and I try not to let music define me. We are two separate entities but we get together for a shindig once in a while – and I intend to keep it that way.”

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