From the onset, the pretty, yet melancholy stair stepping guitar harmonics of "Cruel World" by L.A. based singer-songwriter, rocker Colin Keenan portends dark atmospheres. Less than 10 seconds in Keenan's vocal countenance, an art rock auteur feels pained, bruised as he effortlessly croons in different registers. The sonics, the shapes here have a cross generational sense to them, from late 70's fantasy rock and current iterations of 90's post rock with glam guitar leads. The apocalyptic storytelling combined with the f you to those immovable governments or corporations (or amalgam of both) that we can't control has me thinking of equally spacey and subversive sounds from artists like Muse, R.E.M., Bowie, Pink Floyd and even The Doors.
Maybe the chorus says it all:
"Goodbye to what we thought was true
Goodbye the lies say or do
Goodbye cruel world – and fuck you too"
Goodbye the lies say or do
Goodbye cruel world – and fuck you too"
LINER NOTES:
“Cruel World” features Keenan on vocals, piano, acoustic guitar and guitar intro; Rick Musallam on lead guitar, bass and additional guitars; and Joe Travers on drums. The song was released by Alternator Records on December 12.
Says Keenan: “I wrote this song about the current state of the world and how it leaves me with feeling that all that may be left to us is a futile last act of defiance in the face of insurmountable devastation and injustice”
-Robb Donker Curtius
https://soundcloud.com/colinkeenan
https://www.youtube.com/@ColinKeenanMusic
https://www.instagram.com/colinkeenan17/
Colin Keenan, singer songwriter, art rock auteur, multi-instrumentalist, Los Angeles, accomplished musician, artist, producer, "Cruel World" (Official Video)
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://soundcloud.com/colinkeenan
https://www.youtube.com/@ColinKeenanMusic
https://www.instagram.com/colinkeenan17/
https://www.facebook.com/colinkeenansongs
About Colin Keenan
Dubbed, “The Minister of Sinister” by bassist Bryan Beller (The Aristocrats) for his dark-hued lyrics and cynical outlook, Colin Keenan started his music career in Connecticut where he played in various forgettable and rightly forgotten bands. After a series of clearly foreseeable failures, Keenan entered Berklee College of Music in Boston as a bass player and composer where he impressed absolutely no one with his skills. Fortunately, Berklee did provide a fertile ground for his latent songwriting skills, and he was soon writing and performing with Brad Fernquist (GooGoo Dolls), Wes Wehmiller (Duran Duran), and film/TV composer Shawn Pierce among others.
After graduating and moving to Los Angeles, Keenan fronted the seminal but notably disinterested band, I, Claudius with Wehmiller, Joe Travers of Zappa fame and other LA session musicians. Following the dissolution of Claudius, he started the “Mother Eff” project with Guitarist, Rick Musallam (Ben Taylor, Carly Simon), Bryan Beller and Joe Travers. Their “Are We Famous Yet” album was met with critical acclaim, and featured guest artists such as Mike Kenneally.
Relying on his classical composition background combined with Berklee’s jazz-infused palette, and with an abiding love for the simplicity and lyricism of the American singer-songwriter tradition, Keenan soon turned to creating his own complex yet accessible music. “I try to blend the linear quality of classical with the more vertically stretched chords of jazz, but in a contemporary song structure. I only really care about the song – the rest is only how you get there.”
About Colin Keenan
Dubbed, “The Minister of Sinister” by bassist Bryan Beller (The Aristocrats) for his dark-hued lyrics and cynical outlook, Colin Keenan started his music career in Connecticut where he played in various forgettable and rightly forgotten bands. After a series of clearly foreseeable failures, Keenan entered Berklee College of Music in Boston as a bass player and composer where he impressed absolutely no one with his skills. Fortunately, Berklee did provide a fertile ground for his latent songwriting skills, and he was soon writing and performing with Brad Fernquist (GooGoo Dolls), Wes Wehmiller (Duran Duran), and film/TV composer Shawn Pierce among others.
After graduating and moving to Los Angeles, Keenan fronted the seminal but notably disinterested band, I, Claudius with Wehmiller, Joe Travers of Zappa fame and other LA session musicians. Following the dissolution of Claudius, he started the “Mother Eff” project with Guitarist, Rick Musallam (Ben Taylor, Carly Simon), Bryan Beller and Joe Travers. Their “Are We Famous Yet” album was met with critical acclaim, and featured guest artists such as Mike Kenneally.
Relying on his classical composition background combined with Berklee’s jazz-infused palette, and with an abiding love for the simplicity and lyricism of the American singer-songwriter tradition, Keenan soon turned to creating his own complex yet accessible music. “I try to blend the linear quality of classical with the more vertically stretched chords of jazz, but in a contemporary song structure. I only really care about the song – the rest is only how you get there.”
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