It's Not A Matter Of Space was written, performed, recorded and mixed by Keith and features additional vocals by long-time musical collaborator and co-singer of The Penny Black Remedy, Marijana Hajdarhodzic.
Released on Mono Del Mundo Records through Cadiz, it's available now from Keith's website.
On the writing, recording and release of his debut solo album, and on why he is presenting new material as a solo artist, Keith explains....
"Over the last two years or so, I’ve written a lot of new songs, many of which I felt didn’t quite fit within the 'musical and lyrically stylistic remit' (which granted, is fairly broad) of The Penny Black Remedy. But I really liked a lot of the songs and felt it would be a shame for them to kind of metaphorically sit idly and gather dust exclusively in my own (non-metaphorical) head. So basically, I just decided to perform, record and release the material myself, on a new label, and under my own name. I think the solo material differs (in my mind, fairly radically) in a few different ways to TPBR; the songs themselves are structurally quite different (being less cross-genre and ostensibly less 'upbeat', tempo-wise) and I guess thematically, the overall mood is a shade 'darker'. This in turn has made this album sound quite spacious and has conceivably given it a more 'cinematic/soundtrack' feel; lyrically, the songs are less obviously, (and perhaps less flippantly), autobiographical and are a lot more narrative based, making them a bit more ambiguous and allegorical, subject-wise. A friend who had an early listen to the album said he thought it sounded like the 'musical equivalent of a movie jointly directed by John Waters, John Ford and David Lynch'. I liked that. It kind of summed the whole thing up. For me, anyway.”
Keith plans to perform material from his debut album live at choice events throughout the course of 2017, both with a full band (with some very special guests to be announced soon) and as a stripped down acoustic version accompanied by Marijana Hajdarhodzic. Keith is also planning to release a follow up solo album in the Spring of 2017..
Check out the video for 'No Strangers Here'.
The Penny Black Remedy themselves are set to return in 2017 with a new album produced by MORRISSEY and POLECATS guitarist, BOZ BOORER.
Pics by Marijana Hajdarhodzic