Kelly Lee Owens at New Century
Johnny James, Managing Editor
On the back of her critically acclaimed fourth album, Dreamstate, Kelly Lee Owens brings her dreampoppy electronica to New Century this March.
Kelly Lee Owens has forged an interesting path. She grew up in Wales as an indie kid, road-tripping around the country to take in as much live music and to meet as many people on the scene as possible. She had her own creative ambitions, but after being told by career advisers that music was nice, but offered her few prospects, she moved to Manchester and became an auxiliary nurse in a cancer ward. But that didn’t stop her spending her holidays selling merch for Foals, The Maccabees and Friendly Fires while playing bass in the shoegaze band The History of Apple Pie.
Her career and her musical interests took a handbrake turn when she got the opportunity to intern at XL Recordings in London, leading to a job at the record store/dance label Pure Groove. There, she found that her colleagues were all moonlighting as DJs and producers – among them Daniel Avery, Gold Panda and Ghost Culture. It wasn’t long before Owens was jumping on the controls herself, while shifting (though not all the way) from indie kid to raver.
Cutting her teeth as a co-writer and vocalist on Daniel Avery’s Drone Logic, Owens’ 2017 self-titled album blended introspective songwriting and body-moving beats, sitting somewhere between the shimmer of Cocteau Twins and Avery’s elegant, acid-dusted techno. Its success led to collaborations with St. Vincent, Bjørk and Jon Hopkins, as well as two more acclaimed records in the form of 2020’s song-focused Inner Song and 2022’s IDM-based LP.8.
Running through everything Owens has released is a feeling of escapism, healing and freedom. Dreamstate is no different, documenting the experience of inner evolution through a delicious blend of glittering, euphoric techno and lush dreampop. It’s the sound of a person letting go while encouraging everyone else to do the same.
Released at new label home dh2, Dreamstate is built on the foundations of collaboration, with producer-writer credits from Bicep, Tom Rowlands from The Chemical Brothers and George Daniel. “Dreaming doesn’t have to be done alone”, Owens says. “Getting into any higher state of consciousness can be done at a group level. We know that when we come together in spaces where we’re listening and embodying sound. We leave having felt like we transcended the every day in a positive sense. Positive escapism.”
Many of the songs on the record feel made for that live setting, notably the icy synths and propulsive thrust of ‘Sunshine’, ‘Dark Angel’ and ‘Air’, while Pitchfork describes the title track is a “peak-time banger, a side-winding rave anthem that sounds as if the acid-house climax of Madonna’s “Ray of Light” had been stretched into eternity.” But the dance highlight has to be ‘Love You Got’, on which harder-edged synths push through the trademark haze as Owens flexes her rhythmic muscles.
The album’s more ambient explorations are rewarding in a different way, the likes of ‘Ballad (In The End)’ offering Owens a chance to properly belt out her vocals as a lead singer, following years of her voice serving a more textural purpose. Album closer ‘Trust and Desire’ has no drums at all, leaving the listener with shimmering strings, muted keys, and space in which to dream.
The last time we watched Owens live was at Albert Hall supporting Jon Hopkins. It was an incredible gig all round, with Owens giving the headliner a run for his money (which is really saying something). She’s a powerful stage presence, singing live and manning hardware while losing herself in a way that’s mesmerising to watch. With an excellent new album and countless more shows under her belt, we’re expecting great things at New Century.
