Hailing from Eau Claire, Wisconsin and now working out of Minneapolis, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Pat Keen started a solo project under his own name in 2015, finding time between studio and touring work as a producer and bassist. Drawing on his background in experimental jazz and folk, Keen subverts genre conventions to create a rich and singular sound.
This summer sees the release of Cells Remain, a brand new full-length Pat Keen record. With help from Adelyn Strei, John McCowen, Shane Leonard, and Brian Joseph, Keen weaves a complex web of arrangements, but the experimentation is devoid of pomposity or pretension. Instead, the elaborate soundscapes are an attempt at something far more organic and intimate. An inner life, and the other lives which orbit around it.
Lead single ‘Cell Song’ gives an indication of what is to come. With a gentle yet intricate sound built from dappled drums and hummed harmonies, the track has a compassionate atmosphere that proves enveloping. And this is very much in keeping with the themes of the track and the album more generally. The idea of digging beyond surface appearances and emotions, of contemplating the full depth of every person and circumstance with an eye to empathy and understanding.