Keith
'Red Thread'
(Lucky007)
Released:29.05.06
Red
Thread is the much-anticipated debut
album from Keith, the Manchester-based groove
merchants behind May 2005's Hold That Gun EP. A year down the line, Red Thread is a marker of how far the band has come. 'I
think Red Thread's a brilliant collection of
tunes,' says drummer Johnny. 'Kind
of a Greatest Hits of where we're up to at this
point. There's a real balance on there - some
fat, grooving tunes, song-based stuff, subtle
atmospheric tunes, some more epic stuff too.'
Already
established as an unmissable live act on home
turf, the past 12 months have seen Keith up
their game, eliciting a rapturous response at
France's breakthrough Les Inrockuptibles festival last November and backing Sebastien
Tellier (whose masterpiece La Ritournelle has been covered by the band) at the Bush Hall
a month earlier. Thanks also to their strong
crossover appeal with the dance crowd, the Hold
That Gun EP was ripped apart and remixed
by Simian Mobile Disco and Herbert, winning Touch Magazine's
Leftfield Single Of The Month accolade in the
process.
Red
Thread actually began life as an EP. Finding
that they couldn't agree which tracks to put
out next, the band came to the conclusion that
the world was ready for the first Keith long
player, and set about recording it during a
frenetic burst of activity in January 2006.
The band logged 12-hour days in the studio,
emerging three weeks later with eight newly
recorded tracks. Those, plus re-recorded tracks
from the limited Hold That Gun EP, comprise
the album.
The
title came from a comment made by an A&R
man during the band's early days. 'He said
our sound formed a red thread though all the
different styles of music,' says Oli. 'There's the dance influence, the folk influence,
the indie influence, and we're the neat red
thread wrapping around it all.'
Sure
enough, there's a world of different sounds
on Red Thread, whether it's Smiths-influenced
pop with echoes of African hi-life on current
single Back There, meandering atmospheric
balladry (Gunshot Revelry), shoe-gazing
indie (Down Below), twisted disco (Mona Lisa's Child) or Eno-esque avant
garde textures on The Miller, an organic
jam which started from riffs on an Aztec tongue
drum. This spirit of eclecticism comes from
four strong personalities - and four different
musical backgrounds - that makes up the band's
creative hub. Their frequent DJ sets are nothing
if not eclectic, including everything from funk
to indie, soul and psychedelia. Happily, they've
been able to create a way of working that embraces
each member's input equally - good old fashioned
democracy. 'As a band there are so many
different influences, different angles, that
we're always going to hit tense points,' says
Johnny. 'We have to take a group decision on
everything and trust that we're right.'
Fact
is, whatever Keith turn their hands to sounds
astonishing. The four met on a music
production course in Warrington, and their musicianship
and experimentalism shine through in every track.
'We've been playing together for about four
years now, so there's a strong understanding
between us,' says Johnny. 'One thing I will
say though, is that having four great musicians
in the band can sometimes be a problem, cos
you have ideas that are a little over the top.
Sometimes we have to tone ideas down - we don't
want to become a prog band yet!' |
