Duke Keats – Dirty Glamour (2023)
Raised on an eclectic range of music from classical artists like Mozart and Beethoven to vintage acts like Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie to contemporary groups like Kings of Leon and The White Stripes, Duke Keats is a ball of bubbling musical prowess. From age 9, the UK-based singer-songwriter has been performing, evolving and making a mark on the music scene. Locally, Keats has been featured on various BBC radio shows playing live, getting radio play, and chatting in interviews. Internationally he is making noise with features on Obscure Sound, Muzak Review, More Than Just Music and many more publications/playlists/radio stations. The latest addition to his discography is the EP, Dirty Glamour.
Following the single ‘Gloom’, a film score for UK fashion brand Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY’s Autumn/Water 2021 collection, Dirty Glamour is Keats’ first release of 2023. Unlike his collaborative EP Steal From The Rich Give To The Poor in 2022, the debut solo EP steps away from the electronic-inspired tone to showcase his diversity and innovation. Combining his dynamic guitar with Liam Tweedie’s bass, George Tuson on drums and Georgia Clark on saxophone and keyboards, Dirty Glamour captures a raw live sound and stuffs it into an in-studio package.
From the opening track ‘Skid Row’ to the closing ‘Damn Dara’, Dirty Glamour is a kaleidoscopic palette of sound creating an otherworldly sonic picture. Obscure and inimitable, the EP tosses you into a hazy whirlpool filled with tinges of psychedelia, a swirl of classic rock, a spattering of indie-rock and a swoosh of jazz wafting through the melodies. A fan of old-school jazz-rock, I find Dirty Glamour particularly appealing with its nostalgic edginess and charm, especially in the single ‘Again’.
Unafraid to touch on provocative issues in his music, Duke Keats explores the griminess of the 21st-century entertainment industry in Dirty Glamour. From the first track ‘Skid Row’, Keats brings you into a psychedelic world evoking “the emotions and feelings of an upcoming actress highlighting the rags to riches tale…”. You are then pushed to the more upbeat ‘Again’ that brings a toe-tapping joy in its tune but is rather profound and poignant in its message. It is “written about the darkness of Hollywood…to emphasis the panic, confusion, anxiety of the narrator…to present a murky, bleak sonic landscape…” Keats then shoves you out with the uncomfortable, scratchy, screeching experimental song ‘Damn Dara’ to leave you pondering the best and worst of society.
Influenced by Hendrix and Bowie, Dirty Glamour and Duke Keats is genre-defying, to say the least. Obscurity from head to toe, listening to his music is like taking a shot of vodka feeling the sound course through your veins and leaving the party with a completely altered state of mind.
For more from Duke Keats, check out his Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
