One of the most acclaimed artists coming out of Ireland today, Keeley is an exciting psychedelic dream pop outfit that’s wildly creative both sonically and thematically. ‘What a life, what a mess’ sings frontwoman Keeley on the album’s resounding opening track ‘The Glitter and the Glue’. There’s a bit of The Smiths, a bit of Floyd, and a whole lot of The Velvet Underground on this record. If that uniquely exciting sonic blend fails to draw your attention, the theme most certainly will. The entirety of the EP is based on the 1988 murder of Inga-Maria Hauser, a teenage German backpacker who met an untimely end in Northern Ireland after embarking on a solo European adventure. Keeley’s fascination with the case has since led her to write an entire blog on the matter which has been eagerly devoured by true crime aficionados.
‘Brave Warrior’ is an explicit ode to Maria Hauser. It’s quite literally a concept album, one that takes this mysterious and intriguing person as a subject to dissect and discuss over a host of artistic work. In an effort to keep her spirit and soul alive, Keeley has devoted her craft to making artistic expressions around Maria. At four tracks long, each piece centred vaguely around themes of loss, grief, and death; ‘Brave Warrior’ is a wildly vivid way of reimagining the life of a soul now departed.
You’d be hard pressed to find an album as imaginative as this, especially one that’s so specifically niche and targeted in its content. But simultaneously, the tracks don’t drone on whatsoever. Each piece is its own unique gem, filled with soundscapes that are spectacularly entrancing. Sometimes melancholic, sometimes euphoric, Keeley finds a way to instil an array of emotions and ideas while anchoring the entire record around this seemingly strange but undeniably beautiful concept.
Well worth an exploration for any fans of psychedelic music, and even more so for those intrigued by true crime.