Keith
'Mona Lisa's Child'
(Lucky008)
Released:28.08.06
Mona Lisa’s Child from Lucky Number’s eclectic prodigies Keith is the second single taken from
their much acclaimed debut album Red
Thread.
From
four headstrong characters, with wildly
different musical roots, ‘Mona Lisa’s
Child’, finds Keith front man - Oli
Bayston - at his most cathartic and
honest. The lyrics tell a tale of anger
& desperation with an angst-crossed
lover musing over the breakdown of a relationship
where love tried but ultimately failed.
Vulnerable, pensive and impassioned, ‘you
were crying, you were shouting, screaming,
“like me, love me”; I think I tried’.
You’ll dance ‘til your stiletto heels
snap off, though your mascara may run
along the way.
The
epic full-length version ensures that
‘Mona Lisa’s Child’ is always the euphoric
send-off in Keith’s live set, whilst a
fresh radio edit comes from the twiddling
thumbs of Dan
Carey whose recent studio credits
include work with international artists
such as Kelis and Sia. The edit straddles
the impossible, maintaining the suspense
and sensibility of the full-length thriller,
whilst enhancing the upfront, almost Latin,
attitude that gets those Bez style activists going at the gigs
Indeed,
after working with high-class producers Matthew ‘Bodily Functions’ Herbert and
the impressively pervading James Ford of Simian
Mobile Disco, Keith have become the
band for a new generation of indie kids.
A band for those who like to take their
reflections out of the bedroom and onto
the dance floor. Keith have also caught
the ear of Lily
Allen who after catching them live
asked the boys to collaborate on her soon-to-be-massive
full-length debut missive, ‘Alright Still’.
The track is called ‘Take What You Take’,
and sees Lily gatecrash Mancunia vibes
with her own inimitable style.
This
time round, the remixes have come from
the cream of the crop of Europe’s leftfield
dance cognoscenti. ‘Mona Lisa’s Child’
has even managed to awaken the ultra selective
masters of French electro-divinity remixing, Alain Braxe (of Stardust fame) and Fred Falke from their spring slumbers.
With nods to Baker, Moroder, and New Order
along the way, it all brings a touch of
Manchester’s bittersweet disco lineage
to Keith’s unmistakable sound. The ultra-hip
drummer from Who
Made Who, TOMBOY,
delivers a sexy, dubbier disco take with
explosions of rhythm & percussion,
whilst JAKE BULLIT‘s unique electro twist shows
why his remix of Arctic Monkeys’ ‘Bigger
Boys…’ is soon to be released. Finally,
Portland, Oregon’s new shining sons Blitzen Trapper take the track’s hooky
melodic mantra and infuse it with a blend
of fuzz, funk, broodiness, and ‘Popcorn’-esque
bleeps that would leave even the mighty Twinings envious!
All
this is backed with new B-Sides, ‘Memoir’,
a groove attack produced by collaborator James
Ford, and ‘Replica’, an experimental
dub, once again enhanced by Dan Carey’s switchblade tape editing
skills.
On
the off chance your radio has accidentally
been tuned to Derivative FM and you’re
new to one of the UK’s genuinely most
exciting new bands; Keith are a poignant
package of sophisticated indie-dance for
today’s musical intelligentsia. Think
Radiohead at their funkiest with Morrissey
at his most observant, buying vegetarian
pork-scratchings at the bar of their local
disco.
It’s
for this reason the boys have been picking
up industry accolades left, right and
centre. The debut ep won NME’s
Radar ‘single
of the week’, with the remix version
winning Touch
Magazine’s ‘Alternative Single Of The Month.’ Now,
following the fans rousing stamp of approval
when ‘Hold That Gun’ topped Zane Lowe’s ‘Fresh Meat’ phone-in poll
back in Feb 2005, it’s only fitting the
band recently featured in NME’s Smiths Anniversary issue talking
of Manchester, “it
pisses it down here, everyone gets depressed
& gets inspired.”
Keith
are also a band that thrive outside of
the studio, with their much-lauded live
shows. Now, following appearances at London’s TDK Cross Central Festival and France’s
breakthrough Les
Inrocktibles festival, they’re about
to embark on 2 dates at Tokyo’s premier Summersonic event, to 50,000 accompanying
the August release of their album in Japan.
Indeed, former Smiths band members turned DJs, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce were so impressed at a recent
gig, they were heard to comment that their
fellow Mancunian ingénues were “Manchester’s most exciting band”, with
Andy citing ‘Mona Lisa’s Child’ as “the best song I’ve heard in years!”
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