Great British Songwriter Gary Kemp has released his third solo album, “This Destination” through East West Records available HERE.
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.
Kemp’s new body of work follows on from 2021’s INSOLO. “This Destination” is his most personal to date and sees the songwriter channel his own thoughts and feelings about the past, present and future through the guise of uncanny storytelling and character work. The album is simultaneously semi-autobiographical and an exercise in empathetic scene-setting.
The album’s release is accompanied by a stunning AI-generated music video directed by Mike Bennion which depicts a hyper-real, rainy London and its commuters. See HERE.
This marks Kemp’s second of three AI-generated videos directed by Bennion, reflecting a shift in the creative landscape.
Bennion said, “Each of Gary’s tracks which I directed videos for have a traveling motif in the lyrics and I echoed that in the visuals, but gave each one its own look. This one had a documentary approach. The idea was various people trying to get home on a London night bus. I was fascinated by the AI technology’s ability to render convincing moving lights on glass and through condensation”.
Speaking about the video, Kemp said, “It reflects the desire to find home in an urban landscape, a theme that runs through much of the album”.
Video for This Destination – directed by Mike Bennion
The single represents a moment of symmetry for Kemp during the writing of the album. Kemp said, “It’s about my relationship with music. Whatever I’m going through, whatever conflict arises, the process of making music is my resolution. That’s my destination.”
The album puts on show the culmination of a lifetime dedicated to songcraft, featuring intricate 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, created by musician Steven Wilson, is also available. 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 first song composed for the album was the arresting and cinematic ‘Take The Wheel’ – a piece of music which evokes the vivid imagery of a couple leaning forward against a windscreen trying to see the road through the rain.
Kemp pleads, “Is there anybody out there who can take the wheel?”. The lyric is a genuine call for somebody, anybody to step in and take over.
Elsewhere on the album, Kemp reflects on his relationship with the City in which he’s spent his life. ‘Borrowed Town’ reckons with the notion that London belongs to no one. The ever-changing cultural hub is something we all inhabit but can never claim ownership over. Kemp says, “London is in constant flux. When you live here, you’re just borrowing it for a time.”
Kemp also recalls a remarkable moment in the album’s conception when a spell of writer’s block was broken by an unexpected intervention by a fellow musician. He’d been sitting by the piano for hours to avail when the phone rang:
“It was Richard Hawley. We chatted for a while and I told him I’d been going round in circles trying to write something that day. He said ‘Okay, here’s what you do. Go over to the piano and sit down’”. Kemp obliged. “‘Put your hands out over the keys. I’m going to go now, and you’re going to write a f*cking brilliant song.’”
Sure enough, the encounter led to Gary producing the McCartney-esque ‘Work’ – a semi-autobiographical tune in which he celebrates the unsung heroics of a parent’s everyday life. In ‘Work’, Kemp embarks on a trip down memory lane in an evocative account of his parent’s working life. He says, “I remember going into the factory with my Dad one morning. I have this vivid recollection of the moment he put his brown overalls on over his clothes. To me he was Superman putting on his cape.”
The song’s outro builds into an uplift of staccato strings while Kemp repeats the mantra “Got to make it work”. The statement almost takes on new meaning with each repetition – partly summarising the song’s narrative whilst also acknowledging the pressure we put on ourselves in every aspect of life; from relationships to health issues to career decisions.
It’s on the album’s final track ‘I Know Where I’m Going’ that Kemp reaches his resolution. He sings, “I know where I’m going, I plan to take a rest there”. Clearly Kemp finds his peace of mind on the album’s full circle moment. He said, “It’s the most personal on the record… It had to go last – it just made sense”.
Through a combination of his own stories and stories imagined, Gary Kemp has certified himself as one of the country’s greatest songwriters. “This Destination” is out now on East West Records. Gary Kemp will be appearing alongside brother Martin Kemp for a special Q&A event at PRYZM Kingston on Tuesday 4th February; tickets available HERE.
About Gary Kemp
Gary Kemp is one of the UK’s most successful songwriters of the past 40 years. As guitarist and founding member of the most influential and iconic band of the 80s, Spandau Ballet, he was responsible for writing the words and music for 23 hit singles and albums, including modern day standards like True and Gold. Gary’s songs have had an extraordinary combined total of over 500 weeks in the charts and are hits all over the world. They’ve generated over 25 million record sales and the songs were part of the soundtrack to the 80s. Last year, he received the BMI Icon Award at the 2023 BMI London Awards for his contributions to popular culture and music. He joined an elite group that includes The Bee Gees, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Ray Davies, Peter Gabriel, Queen, Sting, and Van Morrison.
Kemp’s songs have proven truly timeless. The ubiquitous hit single True has logged over 5 million air plays in North America alone, and his songs have featured in an incredible 100 feature films over the years including Sixteen Candles, The Wedding Singer, Charlie’s Angels, Pixels and Crazy Stupid Love as well as countless TV programs including The Simpsons, Spin City, Gilmore Girls (all three times each) Euphoria, Modern Family and, Ugly Betty plus many, many more.
In 2012, he was presented with the Ivor Novello’s prestigious Outstanding Song Collection award. Gary has also won numerous awards and accolades for his work in Spandau Ballet, including an MTV award, a Brit and a Q award.
Gold has even made its way into popular culture, as a sports anthem. In 1984 it was used by the BBC as its main theme for its coverage of the Los Angeles Olympics and in 2012 it became the unofficial anthem of the London Olympic Games. It has become a standard for sports and football fans to sing, in recent times most notably for Arsenal Football Club. It is truly a people’s song.
Other classics written by Gary include Through the Barricades, Only When You Leave, To Cut a Long Story Short and Chant No.1.
In recent years, Gary has become synonymous with the Rockonteurs podcast which he hosts with fellow musician Guy Pratt, interviewing music legends and becoming the most listened to music podcast in the UK.
He and Guy have also been part of the acclaimed Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets, for the last 6 years, with Gary receiving praise and new audiences for his incredible guitar work. The band play Pink Floyd’s celebrated and significant early body of work including tracks from the era of 1967’s ‘The Piper At The Gates of Dawn’ through to 1972’s ‘Obscured By Clouds’ which has included a much lauded rendition of the 23 minute epic ‘Echoes’.
Gary is a Trustee of the Theatres Trust with a passion for keeping theatres at the heart of communities.
Gary grew up in Islington (born October 16, 1959) and attended local grammar school Dame Alice Owens and Anna Scher’s Children’s Theatre drama club, becoming a child actor in film and TV before concentrating on playing guitar and songwriting and forming Spandau Ballet .
In the 90s, Gary decided to return to acting, starring in numerous films including hugely successful British crime thriller, The Krays and Hollywood blockbuster, The Bodyguard. He has continued to feature regularly on stage and in film and TV.
