Written by: Dave Cantrell
Irish dreamrock artist KEELEY (Keeley Moss) has announced a new album Beautiful Mysterious set for release on October 18 via Tiny Global Productions (House Of All, The Nightingales, Blue Orchids). The latest single is released Friday, August 16th and is an expansive, stirring melange of Krautrock, Stereolabbish space-rock and Experimantal Pop called “Trans-Europe 18.” Built upon a bed of Motorik drum patterns and pulsating bass rhythms, the track emits wave upon wave of intricately-layered sound propelled with the help of phased guitars, chiming arpeggios, hyper-lunar synth loops and a lively/hypnotic organ, all interwoven with a chill but luminous vocal that results in the most addictive Keeley single yet. We here at Stereo Embers are just plain psyched to bring you the US premiere of the artist’s homemade video, an effort made out of footage painstakingly sourced from the year 1988 in which the song’s story is set.
Co-written with KEELEY producer Alan Maguire (who also helmed Keeley’s 2021 debut EP The Glitter and the Glue), the song is based on a True Crime story that chronicled the fateful journey undertaken in 1988 by 18-year old German backpacker Inga Maria Hauser, who travelled from Munich to the UK via Interrail on an adventure undertaken with wide-eyed teenaged optimism and the excitement of the unknown but would end in a still-unsolved tragedy in Northern Ireland. “Trans-Europe 18” celebrates her youth and vitality and chronicles the first part of her journey as she travels towards, and arrives at, her London destination. It’s a topic that, like many in Ireland and the UK, has long drawn Keeley’s interest due, we reckon, to how utterly relatable it is given how many of us found ourselves pursuing similar adventures at that same momentarily immortal age. That the narrative here is lovingly woven into a fabric of uptempo, danceable (not to mention hit-worthy) textures is, as it should be, a testament to the eternality of Hauser’s spirit that, as it should, lives on beyond – and is in fact untouchable from – the brutality visited upon the body that hosted it. This is, in short, a celebration of that very spirit, and we’re beyond honored to be a part of that celebration. [hit that Tiny Global link up above or go to the Keeley Bandcamp page to order the LP and see below for upcoming UK tour dates]
Keeley and her bandmates — bassist Lukey Foxtrot and former Morrissey drummer Andrew Paresi — play the following UK live dates this Autumn with more to be confirmed.
Wed. September 4 – London @ The Lexington (w/ Miki Berenyi Trio)
Sun. September 8 – Horwich (Bolton, Lancs) Risers Fest @ The Ramp (w/Miki Berenyi Trio)
Thur. September 12 – Bristol @ The Thunderbolt (w/ Folk Devils)
Sat. September 14 – London @ Off The Cuff (w/ Folk Devils)
Fri. November 15 – Bristol @ The Thunderbolt (w/ Rachel Love of Dolly Mixture)
Sat. November 16 – Minehead @ Shiiine On Festival (w/Kula Shaker, Echo & The Bunnymen, Embrace)
