Unlike most of Dua’s Monthly Read authors, you may know Kae Tempest less from what you’ve read and more from what you’ve heard: he’s released five studio albums in the 17 years since the spoken word piece Teens Speech came out in 2009.
During that time, those who are clued in to Kae’s mind-expanding writing will know that we’re now 11 books deep, too: six poetry collections, four plays, one nonfiction essay and two novels – one of which is the just-released Having Spent Life Seeking, the novel Dua chose as her Monthly Read for June 2026.
What’s sets Kae’s work apart is that, no matter the medium, his words follow the absorbing, rhythmic prose we were first introduced to through his music, channelled via lived experience and palpable emotion into the novel he sat down to discuss with Dua for our video interview here.
Of course, being the multidisciplinary artist he is, Kae’s book naturally lends itself to music. Here, he’s curated a playlist, Edgecliff (named after the fictional seaside town his book is set in), to soundtrack your reading of Having Spent Life Seeking – a series of tracks as transformative to listen to as his book is to read. It’s available on Service95’s Spotify here.
There’s More – Delve Deeper Into Having Spent Life Seeking With The Service95 Book Club...
WATCH Dua’s interview with author Kae Tempest
DISCOVER the books that shaped Kae Tempest as a writer and man
EXPLORE our essay on the rise, fall and rebirth of the UK’s seaside towns
READ our top new reads for June
BOOKMARK what to read when the sun comes out and life feels good again
