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New music reviews with Keo and Kay Greyson

Our weekly fix of the best new music as Julia Mason (aka The Decibel Decoder) brings us her reviews of new music with singles from Keo Crow and Kay Greyson Hollywood

 
Logo for Blowtorch Records blog series Cool Sounds From The Underground

Artist: Keo

Track: Crow

London band Keo release new single Crow
Credit Nicholas O'Donnell

London four-piece Keo follow a slot supporting Kings of Leon at BST Hyde Park earlier this summer with new single Crow. Indeed it's been a busy time as the band have further cut their teeth with recent live dates alongside Courting, bdrmm, Ugly, Enola Gay, Chappaqua Wrestling and more.


Recorded live to tape in March 2024 at 123 Studios in Peckham with Brett Shaw (Foals, Florence + The Machine), Crow is heartbreaking in its lyrical content as it is addressed to a family member in crisis: "I’d rather watch you and bleed / I’d rather cry over me". The track is delivered with an emotional intensity befitting the subject matter. Beginning slowly, it builds as the exploration of familial love grows. With brutal honesty they share this personal story layered with an instrumental which builds with the frustrations.


Keo are led by English/Irish brothers Finn (vocals, guitar) and Conor Keogh (bass) and stated influences range from John Martyn to Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake. Expanding on Crow, Finn Keogh shares the following: "Crow's lyrics share a perspective on time and recall the anxiety I felt when a loved one was suffering with cancer, whom is now thankfully clear of it. I’ve always been a spiritual person looking for meaning in everything. Sometimes, perhaps to the point of it being unproductive, in that I often see things as a sign of what’s to come. Crow is a recollection of the fear and pain I had at the time when they were ill, and now of being grateful for them being in the clear but still anxious that the illness may return."


The band is completed by drummer Oli Spackman and guitarist Jimmy Lanwern and Keo headline Windmill Brixton in London on 28th August, before slots at Neighbourhood Festival in Manchester and Left of the Dial Festival in Rotterdam this October.


Keo Live Dates

August

28 Windmill Brixton - London UK


September

21 Beautiful Ones Festival, Brighton UK


October

5 Neighbourhood Festival - Manchester UK

17-19 Left Of The Dial Festival - Rotterdam NL




* * *

Artist: Kay Greyson

Track: Hollywood

Newcastle hip hop star Kay Greyson releases Hollywood
Credit Shina Collins

Kay Greyson has released her new single Hollywood via Soul Kitchen/EMI North. The track is taken from Kay's new album Chekhov's Gun which will be released later this year.


Kay has been working with a close-knit group of inspiring creatives in Newcastle and Los Angeles. A community has grown and with the NCL x LA project, Newcastle and Los Angeles are coming together as Kay says: "maybe not for the first time, but for the first time in colour".


Hollywood unashamedly stakes out Kay's dream and ambition, while at the same time being mindful of the pitfalls. Musically the track is a blistering, bold take on classic hip-hop, brought up to date with her own confident style, smooth and sharp. Kay shares the following on the track: “Hollywood is a story of two parts, one side is the money and rock and roll side that we all focus on but the other is the vulnerability that comes with chasing a dream. The song tells the story of where I came from to get to where I wanted to be and how it feels when it’s too late to turn back and be who you were before."



As well as the album, a documentary is in the works and alongside hip-hop Kay draws on other key influences influencing punk, rock and jazz. Growing up in a working-class area of Newcastle, Kay was one of the few people of colour in the city. She started to hang out with like-minded kids, congregating at the local McDonalds for safety. This began to build over time, and she was soon involved in the arts scene in the city which was beginning to flourish with a heady mix of different cultures coming together.


House parties and clubnights emerged and it was here that Kay built the confidence to perform in her own right. She started to make connections to other artists and people she would work with, meeting producers, dancers and artists. Over the last few years they’ve been building together and now with Chekhov’s Gun they are ready to go. I for one will be checking it out.

 

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