Release – British Songwriter Gary Kemp is set to return with his third solo album, “This Destination,” out on Jan, 31, 2025, through East West Records. Kemp has released the single “Put Your Head Up.”
The guitarist, songwriter and co-founder of Spandau Ballet has been touring worldwide with Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets since 2018, alongside bandmate and fellow host of the renowned podcast Rockonteurs, Guy Pratt.
Outside of music, Kemp, who studied at Anna Sher’s Children’s Theatre, has acted on-screen and stage in a number of TV, Film and Theatre productions – including a starring role in 1990’s British crime thriller The Krays alongside his Brother and Spandau Ballet bandmate Martin Kemp. In 1992, Kemp appeared in the Hollywood blockbuster “The Bodyguard,” starring Whitney Houston and in 2015, he performed in Jamie Lloyd’s West End productions of Harold Pinter’s “The Homecoming,” “Party Time” and “Celebration.”
Kemp’s new body of work follows on from 2021’s “INSOLO.” “This Destination” is his most personal to date, he said, through which as a songwriter he can channel his thoughts with storytelling and character work. The album is simultaneously semi-autobiographical and an exercise in empathetic scene-setting.
“This Destination” puts on show the culmination of a lifetime dedicated to songcraft. The album features intricate and deliberate arrangements, including strings by the renowned John Metcalfe (formerly of The Durutti Column and more recently string arranger to the likes of Peter Gabriel, Blur and U2).
A special Dolby ATMOS mix of the album, created by musician Steven Wilson, will be available alongside the release. Wilson uses spatial audio mixing, which creates an immersive sound by placing audio elements into a three-dimensional space. The effect is a stunning recreation of how we hear sound in the real world. Wilson is the renowned master of this.
“This Destination” features keys and backing vocals by longtime collaborator Toby Chapman, who co-produced the album alongside Kemp at London’s Reformation and RAK studios.
The aforementioned renowned bassist, Guy Pratt – who handled rhythm section duties for Pink Floyd circa 1987 onward – was called upon to play bass on some of the songs. Pratt’s previous work includes performances and cuts for Madonna, Roxy Music, The Smiths and Womack & Womack, to name a few. The album’s closer features throat-singing by the Mercury Prize-nominated Sam Lee.
Lyrically, the 11-track offering marks a journey in discovery for Kemp, who, in the years following the pandemic, hit an unexpected wall of anxiety and a lapse in self-belief. “This Destination” is the soundtrack to the artist navigating his way back to familiar surroundings.
The symmetry in the writing process came in the form of the very last song penned for the album, its title track, “This Destination.”
“It’s about my relationship with music,” Kemp said. “Whatever I’m going through, whatever conflict arises, the process of making music is my resolution. That’s my destination.”
Listen to ‘Put Your Head Up’ here:
