Veteran singer-songwriter David Kitt performs under his New Jackson moniker at the Haunted Dancehall festival in Dublin this November.
Over the course of his career, David has released several acclaimed albums under his own name, including the double-platinum selling The Big Romance in 2002, the same year he appeared as part of the Meltdown Festival in London, curated by David Bowie. In 2003 he released Irish chart-topper Square 1. His most recent release is 2023's Idiot Check, which follows on from 2018’s Yous.
In 2017 he released his debut album under the name New Jackson, From Night to Night, drawing from techno and house influences. The music of New Jackson has featured on some of the most revered European electronic and dance labels, including Hivern Discs, Cin Cin and Permanent Vacation.
David has DJed at such high-profile clubs and festivals as Berlin’s Berghain/Panorama Bar and Belfast’s AVA Festival. In addition, he has remixed work by The XX, Mano Le Tough and Shit Robot.
We asked David for his choice cultural picks...
FILM
I don’t get to go to the cinema much, but I recently binged on the films of Ruben Östlund - all brilliantly observed and hilarious satirical commentaries on privilege.
MUSIC
CMAT's new album Crazymad, For Me is amazing, it's so exciting and richly deserved seeing her become a global superstar. I have also been enjoying my good friend Richie Jape's new album Endless Thread. He's at the height of his powers.
BOOK
I’ve been crawling through Helen De Witt's The Last Samurai, which is brilliant so far. Also revisiting the poetry of Mary Oliver which has been a constant inspiration for many years now.
PLAY
Living in South Kerry I don’t get to go to the theatre that much but Siamsa Tire in Tralee is great. The last thing i saw was Mám. I found some of the music a bit Euro-fusion-Riverdance cheesy but Cormac Begley's contribution and the dancing and production were all really great.
TV
My partner recently introduced me to PEN15 and I loved it. So funny and well-observed and at times heartbreaking and affecting.
GIG
Haunted Dancehall has an amazing line-up, featuring a New Jackson performance at The Sugar Club on November 5, and I'm doing the final performance of my recent album Idiot Check at Whelan’s on December 9.
ART
I recently saw a retrospective of photographer Jan Groover's work which I loved, especially her early work. But there was lifelong commitment to her craft which I found very inspiring.
TECH
Vochlea Dubler is a new app that allows you to use your voice to control midi instruments.
THE NEXT BIG THING...
Rachael Lavelle. Her debut album is coming out on November 10th and I've never seen such a level of excitement and anticipation amongst my music pals. Her live shows that I've seen have been immense and I can’t wait to hear the whole album and pick up the vinyl.
David Kitt performs as New Jackson in the Sugar Club, Dublin on November 5th at Haunted Dancehall, which takes place in the National Concert Hall, Dublin and various satellite venues - find out more here.
