Kae Tempest is a British poet/writer who has seen success in the past. Both Everybody Down and Let Them Eat Chaos receiving nominations for the Mercury Prize. But this is my introduction to them, knowing nothing but the tags. I'll be honest the poetry tag gave me some hesitance coming in. For the most part I've never been a fan of slam poetry or any forms of incorporating poetry into music usually finding it boring. But it can work at times, hell I gave Wildlife a five and love the spoken word/poetry elements on that work. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (6 August 2020). "Kate Tempest announces they are non-binary, changes name to Kae". The Guardian. Featuring artwork shot by renowned photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, the album is best described by Tempest themselves: So how does The Line Is A Curvehold up? Does it manage to achieve what my A-Level English teacher claimed was impossible? Well, the short answer is no, but it comes close. Very close. I was resigned to living the life I was in,” they say, “and then maybe at 50 when I stopped having this career I thought I might be able to finally transition. But increasingly I couldn’t bear it.” In January 2020, they chopped their hair short. Their eyes light up when recalling the sense of liberation. And then, the pandemic hit. For the first time in what felt like for ever, Tempest was forced to take a beat. A few months later, they came out publicly.

In August 2020, Tempest came out as non-binary, began using they/them pronouns, and changed their name to Kae. [15] Tempest performs hip hop, namely their signature piece Let Them Eat Chaos, at the 2017 Treefort Music Fest in Boise, Idaho Career [ edit ] Flood, Alison (11 September 2014). " 'Next Generation' of 20 hotly-tipped poets announced by Poetry Book Society". The Guardian. London . Retrieved 6 February 2018. Tempest has an excited energy when recounting each passion project and career high. But when it comes to discussing more personal topics during our interview, they cut themselves off – lots of pensive staring. And so it continues. This month, Tempest heads to the US on tour. The European leg starts in April. There is another novel in the works; a book of poetry, too. There’s more, of course. So much of it. “I can feel myself at an important moment creatively,” they say. “Things spinning around in my head; coming out of my hands.” Frankly, I say, it sounds exhausting.The tension between the self and the collective is central to their work; so is narrative’s role in bridging those two realms. Tempest has a predilection for myth (in 2013, they released Brand New Ancients, a contemporary retelling of the tale of Tiresias), and their writing often argues for the importance of storytelling itself. On their fourth album, The Line Is a Curve, they turn their attention to more contemporary stories. The album attempts to capture what it feels like to be alive today in contemporary Britain, drawing on familiar signifiers and clichés: online lives, multiple jobs, youthful years drowned in pubs. But as Tempest examines the stop-and-go motions of being, it also feels like they are asking what it feels like to be alive, period. Tempest’s progression is not only musical; the perspective of their lyrics has also altered. Just as they allow us in by showing themselves visually on the album artwork, they also lift the veil lyrically. Kind of. These are an unquestionably more personal collection of words, particularly when compared to Let Them Eat Chaos, yet they are also more opaque. Of course, that earlier album was a concept album, a story about other people. Covertly, it crept into the rooms, and the anxieties, of a group of neighbours in a London street at 4.18am. Inevitably, one becomes more personal when they stop talking about the lives of others. Becoming more transparent, however, isn’t quite so easy. Perhaps Tempest prefers it that way. a b c " 'Mercury nominees 2014: Kate Tempest". Guardian Music Blog. London. 22 October 2014 . Retrieved 6 February 2018.

Alexis Petridis (27 July 2017). "2017 Mercury shortlist fails to spotlight truly exciting British music". The Guardian. In October 2014, their first poetry collection for Picador, Hold Your Own, was published. The collection was a commercial and critical success and its release coincided with Tempest being named a Next Generation Poet. In November 2019, along with other public figures, Tempest signed a letter supporting Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn describing him as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world" and endorsed him in the 2019 UK general election. [31] In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, they signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few." [32] [33] Reception [ edit ]Coming out has been huge,” Tempest says, tentatively. “A beautiful but difficult thing to do publicly.” The process has been fraught with pain and uncertainty. “It’s hard enough to say: ‘Hey look, I’m trans or non-binary,’ to loved ones. And I have this twin life beyond my friends and family.” I don’t understand how our bodies became territory for war

Kae Tempest [3] [4] (formerly Kate Tempest) [5] [6] is an English spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist and playwright. a b Hogan, Michael (14 September 2014). "Kate Tempest: a winning wielder of words". The Guardian . Retrieved 7 September 2022. Let Them Eat Chaos Kate Tempest06.10. Tempelhof Hangar 5". volksbuehne.berlin . Retrieved 19 June 2018. [ permanent dead link] They take a minute. Sharing stories from their past, Tempest explains, isn’t easy. “Until hitting puberty, I lived as a boy,” they say. “People around me would say: ‘You’re a tomboy, you’ll grow out of it.’ I internalised that, and hoped I would.” That never happened. “Puberty was disorientating. It brought a lot of pain to me.”Aside from Kevin Abstract, ‘The Line Is A Curve’ includes numerous guest spots from the likes of Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C., Lianne La Havas, ássia and Confucius MC. Tempest also teams up with longtime collaborator Dan Carey, who takes on production duties once again. For the last couple of records,” they say, “I wanted to disappear completely from the front-facing aspects of the industry.” There was a genuine desire to let the work speak for itself; constantly grappling with the fact that as a writer their output was enough, yet putting out music meant being public-facing. “But this time, I want to be different.”

Kate Tempest shortlisted for Mercury Prize 2017". Panmacmillan.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017 . Retrieved 3 August 2017. It’s a statement song. It’s powerful in its musicality. I love the beat. The first and the second verses are absolutely phonetically matched. There is communication going on between the transformations in the lyric as it begins in one way, and then as it transforms in the other way, so you have this kind of call-and-response between two verses. For me as a writer, a rhymer and a lyricist, to be doing that on a record is an embodiment of having nothing to prove. It’s like, ‘Here, look what this song is doing.’ It’s like this chorus, musicality, lyricism, flow that are all saying the same thing. There’s nothing to prove—it’s all to play for.”a b "William Shakespeare: A digital reinvention". The Economist. 28 August 2012 . Retrieved 15 September 2012. They were determined to succeed as a performer. But being so visible came with its own set of challenges. Suddenly they were “she” and “her” in the press; nominated in the best female category. Interviews could feel treacherous. It’s not that dysphoria ever went away, but with all eyes on them, Tempest didn’t know how to engage with it.