Keeley Forsyth: DEBRIS

There are moments in one’s life that occur only once. Having the chance to collaborate with Keeley Forsyth is, unquestionably, one of the defining moments in my musical life to date. The first time I heard Keeley’s songs, they were impulsive recordings that had been performed directly into a laptop via its built-in microphone – yet the power and truth of her music shone through, audio fidelity notwithstanding. The task at hand was to keep the essence of these raw versions intact – trying my best to trace their contours using the usual working tools: piano, cello, harmonium, LAMM Memorymoog. Once this process was completed, I felt that the only person who could enhance these pieces further, was Sam Hobbs. Sam’s exceptional attention to musical detail enabled many more avenues to be explored, and, in tandem with Keeley’s seemingly effortless ability to quickly produce ideas of such high-quality, time and time again; a large number of tracks began to appear. Also featured on the album is the beautiful guitar playing of guitarist Mark Creswell – bringing his understated virtuosity to bear on It’s Raining, Look to Yourself, and Black Bull.

Most of all, it is the degree of truth present in Keeley’s voice that never ceases to amaze me (I have cried countless times listening to Lost, for example). Once in a lifetime… Please do seek out the full album, give it a spin, and simply allow the songs to percolate through in their own time, and I hope that you enjoy the discovery of Keeley’s music with as much pleasure as we have all had making it. x