KEELEY: Girl On The Edge Of The World
(Definitive Gaze)
All Formats Available
Available 20th February
KEELEY, fronted by Dublin-born singer-guitarist-composer Keeley Moss release their third album, Girl On The Edge Of The World.
KEELEY follow Floating Above Everything Else and Beautiful Mysterious with a “a film for the ear,” again influenced by Inga Maria Hauser, the German backpacker whose murder in Northern Ireland in April 1988 remains unsolved. On the new album KEELEY writes from the teen’s perspective as documents what would turn out to be the final week of her life across a dozen tracks. A true story which Moss has mapped out with painstaking research into Inga’s movements and by retracing her steps in meticulous detail.
When asked about her muse and the singer explains, “I’ve often been asked why I choose to write about only one subject, and one that might seem macabre to the uninitiated, but to me, Inga’s story is full of hope, vitality, beauty, mystery and poignancy. I felt a burning compulsion to make it my mission in life to memorialise her short life any way I could, and I approach each song from a different angle every time. It’s an endless source of inspiration to me. I suppose I could write in a conventional way about love, angst and the like, but that’s not me. I don’t have relationships, I don’t have holidays, pets or even a TV. Music is everything to me, it’s the greatest thing in the world, and the visionary vessel through which I connect to my muse and facilitate the flow of songs that provide a vehicle for her voice”.
The album itself is a step on sonically from the previous albums, the time spent on the road both headlining and supporting various artists obviously paying dividends. The soundscapes cover many genres from Indie Rock to Post Punk, calling at Shoegaze, Dreampop and a dash of Ambient Electronica along the way.
Girl On The Edge Of The World opens with recent single, Hungry For The Prize, capturing the enthusiasm and excitement that Hauser must have felt as she set off on her journey, whilst Crossing Lands is underpinned with a driving rhythm a sense of movement as she leaves her homeland of Germany and travels through the Netherlands to the UK.
As well as her collaborators, bassist Lukey Foxtrot; former Morrissey drummer Andrew Paresi and producer Alan Maguire, Keeley is joined by a couple of special guests on backing vocals on the album. Trains And Daydreams feature Sice of The Boo Radley’s, whilst Big Brown Eyes includes genuine Shoegaze and Britpop royalty Miki Berenyi. These tracks sitting either side of a couple of ‘London songs’, the stripped back London Fields and London Underground. I must admit I did skip back to Big Brown Eyes, (the would be final track on Side One if not listening to it digitally) a couple of times for the dreamy backing vocals alone).
From Who Wants To See The World there is a wide-eyed innocence as the traveller wrapped in a late 80’s Indie tune. Given that this is a week in 1988 though it makes sense. This is followed by the album’s title track, which is a high point of the collection. The strength of the piece as a whole is that the title track is atypical of the rest, with its slow build and synths and understated vocals. It’s another track which will have you stopping and skipping back for a repeat listen. As the track closes with the sound of waves, and knowing what’s to come, there is an element of foreboding in the air…
The remaining tracks look at whats happened since that fateful day in April 1988, with Keeley trying to find answers on Fell In Love With A Ghost (which is another highlight, especially her vocals) and The Movie of Our Yesterdays, which feels like a culmination of all KEELEY’s out put so far, addressing Moss’s feelings
The last few songs on the new album reflect on what’s happened since Inga died. Fell In Love With A Ghost is about trying to find the answers to what went on and The Movie of Our Yesterdays, which is more personal dealing with how the artist feels about singing about her muse, opening with the line, “I sing to you alone, knowing we can never meet, knowing you can never know.”
The closing track begins with a police / TV appeal asking for witnesses who may have seen Hauser on her final journey on the ferry between Stranraer and Larne with Keeley recounting what is known. Just as Daydreams and Trains completes the album there is Inga’s voice from beyond sending a shiver down the spine, a homemade recording of the teen singing Take Me Home Country Roads.
Girl On The Edge Of The World celebrates Inga’s mission to see the world. Over the dozen tracks KEELEY take you on a vivid journey through the mists of time, creating sound pictures with words, music and in places, excerpts from Inga’s own diary and postcards, to create a deeply poignant and yet utterly vibrant musical memoir.
Recommended
Catch Keeley live over the next couple of weeks
Thurs Feb 19 COVENTRY Tin Music & Arts
Fri Feb 20 BRISTOL Exchange Basement
Sat Feb 21 BOURNEMOUTH The Bear Cave
Wed Feb 25 BRIGHTON The Rossi Bar
Thu Feb 26 HULL New Adelphi
Fri Feb 27 HUDDERSFIELD Parish Dive Bar
Sat Feb 28 GLASGOW Hug & Pint
Sun Mar 1 NEWCASTLE Cluny 2
Official Site / Bandcamp / Facebook / T
Listen to Iain Key in Conversation with Keeley Moss here
All words by Iain Key. See his author profile here or find him via his LinkTree
A Plea From Louder Than War
Louder Than War is run by a small but dedicated independent team, and we rely on the small amount of money we generate to keep the site running smoothly. Any money we do get is not lining the pockets of oligarchs or mad-cap billionaires dictating what our journalists are allowed to think and write, or hungry shareholders. We know times are tough, and we want to continue bringing you news on the most interesting releases, the latest gigs and anything else that tickles our fancy. We are not driven by profit, just pure enthusiasm for a scene that each and every one of us is passionate about.
To us, music and culture are eveything, without them, our very souls shrivel and die. We do not charge artists for the exposure we give them and to many, what we do is absolutely vital. Subscribing to one of our paid tiers takes just a minute, and each sign-up makes a huge impact, helping to keep the flame of independent music burning! Please click the button below to help.
John Robb – Editor in Chief
