SCOTTISH singer, songwriter, and producer Steve Mason has announced his first Dublin headline show in eight years at Whelan’s on November 27.
Rising to widespread critical acclaim in the late '90s as a member of indie darlings The Beta Band, Mason is set to return to Dublin this November for a highly anticipated show following the January 2019 release of his fourth album, ‘About the Light’ on Domino Records/Double Six Records.
With their creative song scrap approach and maverick attitude, The Beta Band earned a somewhat notorious reputation among fans and the UK press during the post-Brit-pop era, thanks to releases like 1998's ‘The Three EP's’ and 2001's ‘Hot Shots II’. During the Beta Band's heyday and following their 2004 breakup, Mason also recorded as King Biscuit Time and later set out on a proper solo career with albums like 2013's ‘Monkey Minds in the Devil's Time’ and 2019's ‘About the Light’.
Mason had already debuted a solo project, King Biscuit Time, late in 1998, and during the 18 months that followed the Beta Band's breakup, he released a pair of King Biscuit singles — including ‘C I AM 15’, which reached number 67 on the British charts — and a full album, 2006's ‘Black Gold’. One year later, he launched an electronica project called Black Affair, and a techno-influenced LP titled ‘Pleasure Pressure Point’ appeared on V2 in 2008. He subsequently returned to a Beta Band format for his first album under his own name, a late 2009 single titled ‘All Come Down’.
The ex-pected full-length album, ‘Boys Outside’, with production help from Richard X, appeared in 2010 on Double Six, distributed by Domino. Provided with polished production, Steve Mason's poignant songwriting and powerful vocals were brought to the fore.
The album was then given a dub re-working by Mason and Dennis Bovell. ‘Ghosts Outside’ displayed the singer/songwriter's effortless ability to span genres successfully, while remixing the likes of Django showed Mason's hunger for creativity was not slowing down.
In early 2013, his third album under his own name arrived. Among its sprawling 20 tracks, ‘Monkey Minds in the Devil's Time’ explored depression, politics, and human nature, bringing together many genres to create a mesmerising experience. His next record focused purely on himself, wringing out personal emotions and experiences for 2016's ‘Meet the Humans’, bringing aboard Craig Potter (Elbow) to produce the album.
With a number of solo tours under his belt, Mason wished to recreate the same live energy on record; the resulting album, 2019's ‘About the Light’, featured a live band throughout the recording process to capture the feeling of his shows.
Tickets for Steve Mason live at Whelan’s on November 27 are priced at €20 plus booking fee (additional charges may apply) and are on sale from this week from the Selective Memory website (http://bit.ly/SteveM_SM) and Whelan’s (www.whelanslive.com)
