Keanu Ienco ft Elise Boulanger – Indigo (2022)
Saying goodbye to someone you have been in a relationship with can be painful and moving on difficult. This is something that Keanu Ienco understands and brings to his single ‘Indigo’. Working with indie-folk musician Elise Boulanger on vocals, Ienco considers the end of a relationship and how we all learn to grow from the pain caused.
The collaboration between Ienco and Boulanger brings a wonderful blend of his stunning guitar playing to her ethereal and dreamy vocals. Ienco draws on a range of influences from rock to jazz and traditional music of North American Indigenous people. Balancing these influences he brings wonderful stories to life through his music. with deep emotion soaked into each note.
‘Indigo’ hits you with the stunning guitar riffs from the first second. Under the guitar movement is a tumbling drumline that rolls you back into the guitar. The electronic guitar tones soar through the air and beckon you to follow them into the unknown just beyond sight. There is a light touch of jazz to the movement of the instrumentation, but this has been interwoven into the rock tones. It is a melody that you can easily get lost in as you float along to the guitar movement. There are times when it feels like the guitar has tethered you to it and pulls you endlessly down the single. Later, there is a heavier rock pulse to the guitars that toss you into equally rocky drums. The interplay of the instrumentation is stunning and really showcases Ienco’s musical prowess.
While the melody could easily have you hooked to the single on its own, Boulanger’s dreamy vocals top everything off perfectly. There is a haziness to her performance that softens some of the emotions of the lyrics and the movement of the melody. Through her performance, you are drawn into the growth that comes from hurt and heartbreak. It is amazing to hear how her ethereal vocals dance across the top of the melody only to merge with it as you head into the bridge. As the rock movement starts to become heavier, the vocals layer and gain a light push to them that wedges you between them and the music. They rise from this moment but some of the push remains with the vocals never achieving the dreaminess of the opening, but evolving into something more grounded and powerful.
Keanu Ienco and Elise Boulanger take us on a blended journey of growth as they overcome heartache through the stunning guitar and dreamy vocals of ‘Indigo’. The melody is a stunning example of Ienco’s powerful guitar style that moves from delicate to picking up a touch of jazz, only to plough through rock. Boulanger’s vocals add the final touch to the single as they evolve through the single, as the lyrics bring the growth of the track.
Find out more about Keanu Ienco on his website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
