Keto – Blackened Pool (Graze Records)
Kato - Blackened Pool
Release Date: 29th October 2018
It’s autumn folks (not fall,
nobody should call it fall, spring isn’t called ‘up we get’ is it!?) so we need
some suitable music and I’ve got just the thing for you. Nottingham artist Keto
is releasing her debut album on the weekend that the clocks change and ‘Blackened
Pool’ is a delight. Opening up gently with ‘Milk’ we instantly get treated to Keto’s
delicate and impish vocal that dances like a singular orange leaf on the breeze
of acoustic notes and stray violin notes. ‘Subline Was the Warning’ picks the
pace slightly, channelling the likes of Tori Amos, Talitha Rise and Laura
Marling through the folk-grunge vibe created by Keto.
Wisps of cold wind creep in under
the door on ‘Are We There Yet?’ as macabre melodies and dissonant flourishes
create a bleak and edgy picture that you are as drawn to as you repelled by. ‘My
Gut’ slithers in like a medieval serpent allowing Keto’s uniquely beautiful
voice to snake in to your subconscious before ‘Always’ revels in the intricate
beauty of ice crystals forming on a window pane in all their beautiful
individuality. ‘What We Do’ continues with the beautiful whimsy and fragility
we have now grown wilfully obsessed with but this one is wraps you in a warm
blanket as the grey skies gather outside the window.
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| Keto |
“We’ve come to the end of the
world as we know it” sings Keto on ‘End Time’ and it sounds like the prophecy
of a Celtic soothsayer and who are we to argue? The title track of the album, ‘Blackened
Pool’, explores those grunge themes again with a vibe that is akin to MTV Unplugged
Nirvana and I just love the combination of the dirge laden guitars and Keto’s
light but angular voice. ‘What’s This?’ is a gentle acoustic lament full of
carefully placed notes that leads us directly to closing track ‘Jackie’ which
builds, reels and swirls with the passion of Marling but, oh, that voice is
something altogether more unique and spellbinding. Keto has produced an album
that beautifully encapsulates autumn and all it’s charm, energy and spirt of
discovery but only if you give it the time. Crunch through its leaves, smell
the bonfires on its breeze and enjoy all the rich flavours full of summer’s sun
before winter comes in to steal it all away.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/ketomusicuk/