What does Keeley Forsyth and Matthew Bourne sound like?

Stark and darkly magical crooning through minimalism and emotion.

The review of ‘Hand to Mouth’ by Keeley Forsyth and Matthew Bourne

Collaborations have a funny way of feeling like serendipity. Dark and richly evocative singer-songwriter Keeley Forsyth discovered Matthew Bourne’s music on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction. Keeley could instinctively hear her voice marrying up with Matthew’s piano compositions, and so she reached out straight away. That collaboration formed the seeds of Keeley’s 2020 debut ‘Debris’, and the rest is history.

‘Hand to Mouth’ is the first project collaboration between them after four years of live or specific track collaboration. The premise was to focus on stark, bare production that is so focused on direct delivery, it feels vulnerably sincere. Whilst the majority of the release is Bourne on piano and Forsyth’s vocals and lyrics commanding the way, each track holds a very different mood. All of them are heavy moods, but some feel darker, and others more wistful or full of yearning.

‘Consider This’ opens the collection with a pensive, brooding, and slightly foreboding tone. The low piano shifts with a light uncomfortableness as Keeley’s husky yet commanding vocals punch through with poise and purpose. Keeley’s voice is unique in the world of music, and by stripping back production, she weilds it like a battle axe. Hushed murmurs to rousing bellows, she runs the gamut across the release. ‘It Seems’ brings Matthew’s piano up a gear to a rolling trickle of notes hanging in the air, slowly joined by hues of strings that leave memories floating behind them. Forsyth’s voice is softer, higher, and more reflective here, as if she is drifting in thought.

This leads to the stunning synth organ ‘Talk To Me’. The organ (if it is one) straddles a ’70s mellotron and a more organic organ or synth flute. It is distorted like an analogue tape and brings an instant ennui and nostalgic sadness. It is also incredibly beautiful, with a feathery church-like sound, too. Stirring up all kinds of emotions, Keeley talks out demands whilst pondering the humanity of others. After the stillness of ‘Talk To Me’, we arrive at the gothic ‘Rain’. A gentle chamber of strings barely bowing a note, hangs behind uneasy cascades of piano notes. As Keeley repeats “this is all over”, the song itself unravels into a questioning demise fit for a stage play death. Keely and Matthew wrote these tracks with the stage in mind, and this piece is perfect for a tragic scene.

‘Anxiety’ follows. Matthew Bourne’s galloping notes shimmer without moving chords, feeling like they are running to nowhere fast. Quite a few songs revolve around a single chord structure, yet unlike so many drone-like musicians, it never feels like we are hanging around on one note. Bourne peppers in dissonant single low keys, like pangs of fear, as Keeley Forsyth leans into her higher soft opera tones. It fades into the bluesy ‘Sing’, which rounds off the release. Unlike the rest of the music, ‘Sing’ places a distant room echo to Keeley’s voice. She sounds like she’s serenading you from across a hall – calling out directly to you. This allows her to power some big notes home for the finale without it changing the heavy, claustrophobic mood overall.

On ‘Hand to Mouth’, we get an extension of the collaborative approach that Keeley and Matthew have cultivated over the last five years. Whilst Keeley Forsyth has never been a maximalist, this is the smallest instrument set she’s worked with to date. The closing track from her recent album ‘The Hollow’, titled ‘Creature’, was composed with Matthew Bourne. It would fit perfectly in this collection, so if you enjoyed that taster, this expands on that gothic piano mood in all directions. A dark, stark, but beautifully earnest collection of songs.

Recommended track: Talk To Me

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