Beth Jeans Houghton has always been a creative maverick. Ever since the release of her debut record Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose with her band The Hooves of Destiny back in 2011, Houghton has carved out an off-kilter vision both through her music and visual output. Homecoming marks not only her third release as Du Blonde but also the expansion of Houghton’s artistic empire with the launch of her own multimedia imprint Daemon T.V.

Where Du Blonde’s previous two studio albums are defined by sprawling garage rock, Homecoming takes this and traverses into pop landscapes. Opener Pull the Plugbursts in with growling grunge guitar licks and effervescent melodies. Smoking Me Out follows swiftly after, with Houghton’s eccentric playfulness front and centre as her warped, ghoulish spoken-vocals sound like something from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

It’s this vivacious dynamism Du Blonde channels that makes her music so alluring, characterised by her distinct husky vocals, frank lyricism and oddball humour. Homecoming hones in on this, embracing a vast sound palette to convey Houghton’s vibrant flair, from the glam rock of I’m Glad That We Broke Up, a duet with Ezra Furman, to the crooning balladery of Take Me Away.

It’s this closing track offers a fitting slow dance to end this Homecoming; with this record Du Blonde cements herself an emblem for outsiders and weirdos to dance to their own tune – and it sounds majestic.

Kez Cochrane