As a music-obsessed kid growing up in Newcastle, Beth Jeans Houghton would watch No Doubt, and Veruca Salt, and Skunk Anansie, and Garbage on television, and dream of one day taking her place alongside iconic female performers such as Shirley Manson and Skin on stages worldwide. But when she actually broke into the music industry, signing her first record contract aged just 18, the reality would prove to be a nightmare.
On her brilliant new album Sniff More Gritty, her fourth long-player as Du Blonde, you can hear Houghton pour what she remembers as "15 years of anxiety, stress, and heartbreak" into the scathing, furiously sarcastic Next Big Thing, a sharply observed critique of the music industry (with guest vocals from Skin) which features quotes of 'helpful' comments made to her in the past by people entrusted with her art.
"I know you’re scared, what you want me to do? He only touched you a few times, so why does it bother you?" was one man's reaction to hearing of the sexual harassment she reported: another verse runs, "Here’s some latex, you should give it a spin. Oh Honey, trust me, they’ll love it, then you could be the Next Big Thing."
