Warning: purists should steer clear of Kelly Lee Owens. If you like your techno pure and straight, without any admixture of other genres, if you can’t stand a track that goes in three different directions in the space of five minutes, then this Welsh producer’s music is not for you.
In 2017, »Kelly Lee Owens«, the debut album, was released, on which the artist combines the most diverse influences of electronic music without voluntary self-control: techno, dream pop, ambient. The attitude conveyed by the album fits perfectly into the 2010s, a time when many artists are breaking out of the techno/house coordinate system, but still want to feel part of it.
Owens’ multi-stylistic approach can be explained by the fact that everything in the 36-year-old’s life revolves around music. After moving to London from Wales, she worked as an intern at indie label XL Recordings, played bass in short-lived shoegaze band The History Of Apple Pie, and spent years working in various record stores around the capital.
Expect a change of direction
It was there that she met Daniel Avery and James Greenwood, who introduced her to music software. In 2013 she worked with Avery on his album »Drone Logic«. A year later she released her first EP. Over the years she has collaborated with many other artists, including St Vincent, Björk, Jon Hopkins and Sigrid. In 2023, Owens will open for Depeche Mode on their US tour.
The two albums »Inner Song« (2020) and »LP.8« (2022) are a bit darker and more experimental than the debut. The artist’s own assessment that her music is »somewhere between Throbbing Gristle and Enya« is apt. On her fourth album, »Dream State«, which came out last autumn, Kelly Lee Owens makes a stark change of direction towards trance and pop. She’s always good for a surprise.
Kelly Lee Owens: Like for many people, the first time I heard Nirvana my mind was blown! In particular Heart Shaped Box - the lyrics, imagery and how visceral the sound was - I felt like I'd found something to soothe those mad teenage years!
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Kelly Lee Owens: I felt like I'd stepped through an entirely new open door the first time I heard Nick Drake. A world opened up, one that I have loved and lived in happily ever since. To quote a track of his, he has given me the greatest gift – »A Place To Be«.
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Kelly Lee Owens: This record opened me up to cosmic jazz, it took me until my late twenties to really »get« it. But that's the beauty of music, it changes and you do. Alice plus Pharoah Sanders just takes me to another plane
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Kelly Lee Owens: Her voice, the production - the ultimate combo. I'll never tire of listening to her, and I'm glad her legacy lives on in the soundwaves.
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Kelly Lee Owens: I was chatting to my mate Jack Bevan (Foals) the other day, and reminiscing about the first time i met them in Liverpool, and how we all first heard this album that same day. This is the day I learned you could mix indie and electronic. It was danceable, heartfelt and yet fun. It inspired me a lot in the early days of absorbing music
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Kelly Lee Owens: I love every single track The Cocteau Twins have ever made. It's so rare to be able to say that!! Elizabeth is possibly one of the best vocalists of our time - what a joy to listen to her ethereal voice. This album does have some of my favorite tracks on it though
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Kelly Lee Owens: This record shaped me in perhaps the most obvious way. Being the voice of Drone Logic and my first foray into writing and production. Being part of this record opened up the beginning of my musical career and I personally think it still sounds fresh today.
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Kelly Lee Owens: I'd say this album influenced me a lot in terms of my production style. The warm, rounded sounds of synths that also seem to have an edge that slices through your consciousness and make you wonder what the hell you just heard. I love the weirdness and experimentation in the writing
Sebastian Hinz
Kelly Lee Owens: There are lots of what I can only describe as spooky connections I have to this album. It affected me so much that I got the title of the album tattooed on my wrist in the beautiful gothic font of the cover. Jeff, although only here for a short time, to me, had mastered the soul in his songs and performance in a way that most of us can only dream about.
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Kelly Lee Owens: I suppose this record opened up the idea of what electronic music could be - and that's ultimately anything! No rules! Just heart. I'm grateful to Jon for that, and ultimately are similar visions which led us to eventually create music together.
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