Kensington combines thrusting rhythms, soaring dual vocal melodies and pointy hooks to create a fresh blend of indierock. There might be a hit single, but there’s enough new ground to break as well. Dancable, yet far from shallow. The four members know exactly what they want, their perseverance is recognisable in the songs. “Kensington proves that complex song structures and cut-copy rhythms can still result in good popsongs”, says Fret magazine.
In June 2007 Kensington release their debut EP, which they nearly sell out. The DIY-recorded EP, which later was mixed by Martijn Groeneveld (Mailmen studio’s) received unanimously positive reviews. “A great effort, full of integrity” said OOR, a leading Dutch music magazine. Musicfrom.nl described it as “well produced, infectious and with plenty of variation”. Fret magazine even featured the EP as demo of the month. Subsequently Kensington was picked by national radio station 3FM as Serious Talent; their single Man | Mission | Mission received a lot of airplay. Kensington also performed live and did an interview on TMF, a Dutch equivalent of MTV. Besides all the media attention the band performed in numerous venues such as the Melkweg, 013, Tivoli and Ekko. These are some of Hollands leading venues, again a signal that Kensington’s star is rising.
Drummer Lucas Lenselink leaves the band early 2008 and gets replaced by Niles Vandenberg, who debuts at 3FM studio’s where a brand new track is written within one hour – the first proof of chemistry in the new line-up. That song is now the first of four internet-singles, to be released subsequently in June. The singles will also come bundled on an EP. The work is produced by Niels Zuiderhoek (Seven, Relax, Birgit) and mastered by Steve Fallone (The Strokes, Foals, TV On The Radio). It shows an evolved Kensington: faster, pointier and even more danceable. Ready for the giant leap forward.
Finally!
After a couple of months of sharing our four newest songs with you online, the time has come to physically release the four tracks plus a brand new ‘‘Safe’‘ remix by cut-copy heroes Nobody Beats The Drum as an EP! In collaboration with Snowstar Records and 3FM Serious Talent we are absolutely stoked to finally show the EP to everyone, which comes in a flashy digipack for only 6 euro’s.
Release Live @ 3FM
Starting december the 12th, when we will officially release the Youth EP during the radio show Move Your Ass on 3FM (between 22.00 and 1.00 at 96.8 MHz), you can finally hold the Youth EP in your hands, put it in your stereo, read the lyrics, show it to your mates, trow it at your girl/boyfriend during fights or just plainly look at it (it’s quite stunning, you know). We will sell the EP at shows, but there obviously will be an option to order it via this site (and others) as well.
Releaseparty and tour
To promote the Youth EP, we have been setting up a tour in early 2009 and thanks to Snowstar Booking and 3FM Serious Talent it’s shaping up to look pretty awesome, but there’s always room for one more show, so don’t hesitate to hook us up with … anything! Mail to snowstarbooking@gmail.com for tips and info. Of course there is a releaseparty as well, December the 27th in dB’s, Utrecht. This evening is the fifth anniversairy of Snowstar Records in collaboration with 3voor12 Utrecht, and together with bands like Florida Snow, Guinevere Leaves, Grapes of Grain and The Subhuman (who will all release new material as well) we’ll make it a night to remember!
Our good friend Vincent de Goede took his camera with him to the Melkweg when we played with The Subways and took some cool pictures. Hit "continue reading" to view all of them.
And another ‘‘The’‘ band to support! One of 2008’s most exciting bands (especially live!) , The Rascals, is coming to town and we are joining them for one fine evening. In our hometown, Utrecht, in Tivoli de Helling on December the 3rd to be exact. You of course heard of frontman Miles Kane’s project The Last Shadow Puppets, with englisch rock royalty Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) and producer James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco). Tickets for our show with The Rascals are on sale here. By the way, expect a big update (I’m talking EP release news and awesome live pics here) tomorrow!
Do you understand Dutch and do you want to know more about Kensington, The Subways, the Youth EP, a remix by Nobody Beats The Drum, the Wombats and 3FM Serious Talent? Head over to Utracks Radio and listen, the interview starts around 12:10!
Saturday evening became, as predicted, a night to remember! Thanks for all the lovely comments, scraps and whatnot, it’s really heartwarming! A big “boks” to all of you who were there, of course not for Kensington in particular ;), but it seems you were enjoying yourselves anyhow and we’ve got a picture to prove it! And of course thanks to The Wombats for being awesome.
p.s. We’ll post some more pictures soon… Stay tuned…
p.p.s. If you’ve got pictures from the show, we’re happy to receive them! You can post a link in the comments, or mail them to us.
The 20th of September we will be playing alongside one of our and probably one your favourite bands: The Wombats! We are stoked, and we’re convinced it’s going to be a night to remember… The show in the Oosterpoort is sold out (always wanted to say that!) so you and your (and our) mums will have to settle for eeeh, well nothing. “Sorry”!
Fashion victims pay attention please: we are featured in the latest Avantgarde MEN, which is in shops now. In an article about ‘‘the hottest Dutch bands in the hottest new denim’‘, which also features bands like Voicst, Di-rect and The Hot Stewards, we talk about our beards, our hunting skills, Scandinavian couture and shopping in London. Click this sentence to see the article Orrr run to your local newsstand and buy the damn thing (or just head over to page 94 and put it back again cause 6,95 is a lot of money). Oh and do tell everyone about this!
