With Keyside’s self-titled debut album out August 5, we had an early listen to review an LP that shoulda take the band nationwide.
Music is subjective. No individual has the same taste as the next.
In some ways, that’s the beauty of music; in others, it is a curse.
Ever heard an artist or piece of music that just begs to be shared, just begs to be enjoyed by the masses?
Well, when it comes to Keyside, they are this writer’s taste to a T.
Music is about how it makes you feel. Keyside’s songs aren’t all heart-yankers, but when they do cut through, they’re sharp.
What the band do so well is create an atmosphere.
It is a feeling of nostalgia and freshness in one. It is happiness tinted with the pensiveness that streams through Dani-Lee Parker’s storytelling lyrics.
To non-Liverpool natives, his words may not always be clear – perhaps that is something to work on to reach a wider audience – but removing this could be to diminish from the band’s charm.
It is a testament to Ben Cassidy’s lead guitar, Max Gibson’s bass lines and Oisin McAvoy’s drumming that the songs connect using more than words.
Keyside
| # | Track Title | Runtime |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Runaway | 2:52 |
| 2 | Angeline | 3:14 |
| 3 | Down My Way | 2:42 |
| 4 | Lemon And Lime | 3:23 |
| 5 | Heaven | 3:15 |
| 6 | Comedown | 3:29 |
| 7 | Rock My Love | 3:09 |
| 8 | Cocodamol | 2:46 |
| 9 | Red Ruby Red | 2:40 |
| 10 | Nikita | 2:28 |
| 10 | Michael (What’s Your Call?) | 3:08 |
| 10 | Echoes | 3:23 |
| Total Length | 36:29 | |
Cassidy’s guitar always seems to strike the right tone.
Like all good lead players, he makes himself scarce when needed and doesn’t intrude on the melody, but does create ambience before assuming responsibility.
A common pattern on the band’s debu album, Keyside, is to leave the verses to the acoustic, bass and drums.
Heaven, one of the album’s previously unreleased tracks, is carried by Gibson’s bass before Cassidy’s electric guitar supplements a short-but-catchy chorus.
Lemon And Lime is another great example.
This track grows on the ears with every listen. It starts with very little lead, out of line with much of Keyside’s discography, but introduces a lead line in the chorus that has a youthfulness full of summer charm.
It evokes a nostalgia of ‘running for freedom’ as an innocent youngster.
From Heaven we go straight into Comedown – and it is this song that could take Keyside mainstream.
From the off, the lead guitar’s hook is central to the song.
Comedown takes the album in a new direction. Keyside are known for indie jangle; this is something else.
Another new track for the LP, this tune could translate into a club hit with ease while retaining a strong melody that dance music usually lacks.
There is synth on Comedown, but it is not overbearing, meaning producer Chris Taylor has managed to create a stepping stone for what could be to come.
For the time being, though, Keyside are very much still taking influence from bands like The La’s.
And make no mistake about it, the third new song on their album is straight from Lee Mavers’ playbook.
Red Ruby Red is unmistakably two minutes and 40 seconds of the city’s alternative 1990s sound that was shaped by their ’60s predecessors.
As the LP winds down, so does the tempo as it rounds off with the beautiful Michael (What’s Your Call?) and Echoes.
A common theme in Parker’s lyrics is his tendency to address social issues with blunt commentary.
Through musical disarmament, the case studies he sings of linger on the mind long after the record stops spinning.
Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the album’s arguable standout song, Rock My Love.
The singer said:
“The character in the song has hit rock bottom, struggling with addiction and unemployed, but she finds a way to live again through a love of photography.
“It’s autobiographical in some ways as music has been a path to lead me away from being lost on dark roads.
“I journal a lot, which I started after reading ‘Meditations’ by Marcus Aurelius.
“By reading, I found that I wanted to write. It’s a necessity for me and out of that habit, the lyrics for songs like this can turn into songs.”
Keyside are Liverpool’s band of the moment, but this album should take them nationwide.
They are unreservedly Scouse. References to Merseyside are littered throughout the words, but not so as to alienate outsiders.
They are also a band in which you can visibly see the progression.
Once shy on stage, they now command it. The quartet don’t run around, provoking crowd interaction.
Keyside let their music do the talking.
Keyside’s self-titled debut album, Keyside, is out August 5.
You can follow the band here, listen to the album here and get tickets for their One Way Paradise tour here.
Mersey Music 