What does Keeley Forsyth sound like?

Haunted moody soundscapes with vocals designed to purge on a full moon.

The review of Keeley Forsyth – Phantom Limbs

‘Limbs‘ is a hugely unique album, full of unusual soundscapes and song structure decisions. It relies on creating a tense atmosphere and never letting its grip on you loose across its runtime. I was intrigued when Keeley Forsyth announced ‘Phantom Limbs’, a remix EP, to release late in 2022. I wasn’t expecting a dance remix of dirge witchy movements. Instead, I was expecting something wildly odd and that’s exactly what ‘Phantom Limbs’ delivers.

The four tracks on the EP each have their own energy and disguise but the overarching theme is industrial drone. All the tracks have an angular, abrasive damaged feedback noise that plays a central motif. In Ben Frost’s ‘Land Animal’ remix it is mixed into a tumbling destructive drum crunch and echoes of Keeley’s voice. In the bell-tolling Yann Tiersen remix of ‘Wash’, the entire second half of the track is a mesh of pressure values that twist and scream. It is a wash of white noise and drones that give atonal chaos to chopped up vocal breathes and noises. It is a difficult listen if you aren’t a fan of hardcore industrial drone noise. ‘Fires’ sees Cosey Fanni Tutti create a hypnotic bass rhythm to allow time stretches vocals and thin techno synth drones pan around you. It’s almost like Deepak Chopra collaborated with Lisa Gerrard. The final remix from Simon Fisher Turner is of ‘Limbs’. Here, we have a collection of field recordings, water splashes and odd knocks combined to create an uneasy horror scape.

Keeley Forsyth isn’t an easy listen to begin with and these remixes are very angular extreme versions of her music. I wouldn’t recommend this as a good place to start, ‘Limbs‘ would be better, but fans of industrial drone might beg to differ. I think I found for me that these remixes are too abstract to find something to cling onto for the ride and whilst I appreciate sound painting an unnerving picture in my mind, this isn’t something I’d return to very often.

Recommended track: Wash (Yann Tiersen Remix)

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