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Kensington are a Dutch rock band from Utrecht, Netherlands. Formed in 2005, the band has since released two EPs and three studio albums: Borders (2010), Vultures (2012) and Rivals (2014). The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Eloi Youssef, guitarist/vocalist Casper Starreveld, bassist Jan Haker and drummer Niles Vandenberg.

Early years (2005–08)

Kensington was formed in 2005 by singer/guitarist Casper Starreveld, bass player Jan Haker and drummer Lucas Lenselink. Singer/guitarist Eloi Youssef joined the band in 2006. Kensington's first official releases appear in 2007 on Stuck in a Day Records: two-song promo single An Introduction To... and the five-song Kensington EP. This self-produced EP was recorded in the Second Moon Studio of Dutch folk singer Hessel van der Kooij, on the island of Terschelling and was mixed and mastered by Martijn Groeneveld in the Mailmen Studios in Utrecht. The Kensington EP received good reviews, from Dutch music platform MusicFromNL for example, which showers it with praise. "The band effortlessly combines different styles and moods into a comprehensive sound. (...) The quartet from Utrecht show musical sophistication on this debut. These five songs exhibit Kensington's prowess, originality and musicality. It is a well-produced, diverse and catchy record." The band played several shows in 2007 with Dutch touring showcase festival the Popronde, and as support for bands such as American indie rock band Movies With Heroes. They also appeared in TV shows on Dutch music channel TMF and in online and printed music magazines such as alternative pop platform 3VOOR12.

At the end of 2007, drummer Lucas Lenselink decided to leave the band. Lenselink felt that his own ambitions do not match those of his band mates anymore. He explained that a career in music is not what he envisions for himself and that he wanted to focus on finishing his studies at university. After auditioning a couple of new drummers, Niles Vandenberg, former drummer of Griffin, joined Kensington in February 2008. Niles does share the ambitions of the rest of the band and is seen as "a great addition".

Together with Niles, the band start working on their second EP. The EP, titled Youth, was released on 12 December 2008 on Dutch indie label Snowstar Records. Youth received positive reviews from MusicFromNL, amongst others, which praises the inventiveness of the song structures and the professional-sounding production. The Youth EP generates attention from several record labels and the band eventually signs with Bladehammer/EMI. A label that shares the band's high ambitions.

Dutch radio station 3FM included Kensington in its Serious Talent program. A program that aims to support local talent by providing air play on 3FM and by hosting shows around the country. In addition to this, Kensington were invited to be the support act for Razorlight, My Chemical Romance and The Wombats for their shows in the Netherlands.

Borders (2009–11)

In the summer of 2009, Kensington traveled to Leeds to start work on their first album with producer James Kenosha, in the studio of Kaiser Chiefs's keyboardist Nick Baines. The album, titled Borders, comes out on July 17, 2010. The album was mastered by John Davis, who has worked with Arctic Monkeys as well. Their first single "Youth" received regular airplay on 3FM, MTV and TMF, and entered the Dutch Single Top 100 chart at number 78. The release of Borders also saw Eloi Youssef becoming the main lead vocalist of the band, where he had shared lead vocalist duties with Casper Starreveld on the band's earlier releases. The latter chose to focus on playing guitar and singing backup vocals. The band spent the rest of 2010 touring the Netherlands] with pop punk band MakeBelieve and several support acts. The second single to come off Borders, "When It All Falls Down", was released in November that year.

On July 10, 2012 the band released a third single, "No Way Out", which starred in its video, Hollywood actor Michael Koltes and Brazilian supermodel Ana Araújo. The video was filmed in London in June and produced by Juriaan and Boris Booij, Dutch film-makers stationed in London.

Kensington played several music festivals during the summer of 2012, such as the Indian Summer Festival. The band spent the remainder of the year touring the country in what is their biggest tour to date. The Vultures club tour has 18 dates, almost half of which sell out well in advance, including hometown venue Tivoli Utrecht.

On 20 November, the band announced that Vultures would be released in Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and South Korea. The international version was released on 11 January 2013 through Universal Music. It included a previously unreleased song titled "Home Again", which featured in the Jack Wolfskin winter campaign commercial. The song became popular, and eventually was also released as a single. During the last show of the Vultures Tour in Tivoli Utrecht, the band filmed a video for "Home Again". It was directed and edited by Boris Booij.

Kensington kick-started the year 2013 with eleven shows at the Eurosonic Noorderslag Festival and a short 5-stop sold-out tour in the Netherlands in March and April. The band also played shows with Two Door Cinema Club and Dutch rockband Kane. The band played several big festivals this summer amongst which are Pinkpop and Zwarte Cross in the Netherlands, Sziget in Hungary, Stonerock in Germany and Openair Gampel in Switzerland.