KEEF Channel Psychedelic Melancholy On New Single ‘I Can See A Future’
KEEF are a psychedelic indie rock band based in the Northwest of England. They’ve been putting out tunes for a couple of years now and they are back with a new single I Can See A Future.
The track opens with some really bright guitars, energetic drums and an incredibly present bassline. Right off the bat you’re hit with a lot, but it’s all so-well produced that you get a taste of all the instruments without ever feeling that it’s too crowded.
The bass in particular, in my opinion, sits perfectly in the mix. Verse one hits and the vocals kick in. Although the bright undertones are still present, the tune now goes from really summery and feel-good to melancholic once Mike starts singing. Really reminds me of Age of Consent by New Order. This part of the song is paired really nicely by the fact that the instrumentals come down in intensity. You’ve now got stripped back guitars, a simple backbeat but a busy and melodic bassline – a brief change of pace before everything ramps up again. The bright guitars come back in, and the drums ramp up again for the next section of the tune.
Mike’s laid back low register sits well here juxtaposed against the guitars. Then we get the line “I can see a future” which has these “Oh Ah Ohs” buried in on either side. What I love about the backing vocals is that they almost sound like a synth, they could’ve easily just not done this, but I think the clever sound design behind this really bolsters this part of the song. It also reinforces this mix of bright and melancholic once you put it with Mike’s vocal range.
After this we go into an instrumental section which is reminiscent of the opening, leading into another stripped back section. Again, really nice to let the track breathe and have the super present bass do its thing. After this we are back to ‘I can see a future’ with those backing vocals which then closes the tune.
The recording, production and arrangement of KEEF’s I Can See A Future is really on point. As I mentioned before, the instrumental is quite dense, but everything is clear and crisp – especially the bass. I often find bass is the hardest instrument to both capture and mix properly. But here both are spot on. Really does sound Peter Hook-esque.
KEEF describe themselves as a psychedelic indie rock band and after listening to their latest single, I would definitely agree. Would love to see them explore this sound even further with subsequent releases.
Stream KEEF’S I Can See A Future now.
Adam Larbi
