Keyside have maintained their position as one of Merseyside’s best emerging talents with their latest single If You Don’t Try, an anthemic, optimistic single which is impossible not to enjoy.
From the first chord, to the closing note, every second of the tune is full of sentiment and hope. This marks a change from Keyside’s previous work such as Runaway and Michael (What’s Your Call?), with the band’s lyricist Dan Parker previously explaining to CLASH Magazine how “All my life I’ve been brought up around drugs” and how “These songs are a manifestation of what I’ve seen”.
However, If You Don’t Try takes a turn away from this, and instead instils the band’s personal emotion and realism into a song laced with hopefulness and optimism – which works so well for the Liverpool four-piece.
Keyside – If You Don’t Try Video
As stated by Parker himself, If You Don’t Try is about “Embracing uncertainty, taking chances and living life” and saying “F*ck it! Let’s give it a go, see what happens if we try”, which is definitely reflected through the upbeat, catchy guitar riffs and high energy vocals. Aptly described as a “pep talk” single, the inspirational and impelling “If you don’t try, I guess you’ll never know” creates a message about letting go of fear and pushing forward despite overthinking and self-doubt.
This truly demonstrates Keyside’s talent as not only another riff-laced indie band, but as songwriters with so much potential. After local sets at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend and Liverpool Sound City, and support slots for bands such as The Royston Club and The Wombats, Keyside have been one of the most promising bands of recent, and their latest release affirms this.
Announced alongside the latest single is the band’s biggest headline UK tour yet commencing in November, and you can catch Keyside locally at a hit show at O2 Academy Liverpool on the 21 November.
Stream If You Don’t Try now.
Follow @keysideliverpool on Instagram.
Read our recent interview with Keyside to find out more about the band.
Evie Johnson
