Los Angeles based singer/songwriter Colin Keenan likes to dive into darker themes, as witnessed by his most recent singles “Cruel World” and “riverrun”, but he works with sound elements that are inviting and almost hypnotic, creating a space for exploring some of that moodier terrain which may occasionally gleam with hints of hope.
We’re very pleased to premier Keenan’s new and song and video for “Somehow” today on Wildfire Music + News. The song will be released by Alternator Records this Friday, March 22, 2024.
“Somehow” is a song that shows a tremendous empathy for the internal states of human beings and the things that they may be wrestling with that we cannot see. Even if Keenan might be writing from his own experience of isolation and a feeling of inner darkness, the song is an excellent reminder that we all have faces that we don’t show to the world and memories and experiences that we only really confront when we are alone. “Somehow” shares the reality and significance of the isolation we can feel, and rather than brushing it off as a minor mood, it suggests a narrow margin by which we might survive to reach a better moment or a better frame of mind. The sound of the track combines confessional melodic vocals with warm and emotive guitars while giving the drums and bass a dreamlike feeling.
The video intercuts between scenes of isolation and introspection, including imagery from the natural world, and smokier, hazier-looking live play that suggests an almost purgatorial state. It’s clearly a place of reflection, a place that’s not always comfortable, but one which thoughts, words, and music may be able to cut through. The colors are sepulchral, leaning towards a twilit feel, and that adds to the sense of night thoughts and distance from the daytime world referred to in the lyrics. By including a suffering character, rather than only sharing live play, the video increases that sense of empathy and outreach inherent in the song. While the video may seem a little gothic and removed from hopefulness, it’s also gentle and persuasive in its tone, creating a sense of understanding.
Colin Keenan shares about “Somehow”:
This song reflects my guardedly optimistic approach to the damages and ultimate destructiveness of life and expresses my need to see a way through even if it is just to fool myself into thinking I can do it.
He adds about the video:
I was trying to find a way to match the color and tone of the song which has really obvious ‘transitions’ back and forth between dark and light and night to day, even heaven to hell – and yet still tell a ‘relatable human story. The performance aspect of the video was all self-shot.
“Somehow” features Keenan on vocals, acoustic guitar and bass, Rick Musallam on guitars, Joe Travers on drums, and Michael James on additional keyboards.
Colin Keenan started his music career in Connecticut where he played in various bands before entering Berklee College of Music in Boston as a bass player and composer. Those approaches didn’t pan out, but turned him into a songwriter 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 band, I, Claudius with Wehmiller, Joe Travers, and other LA session musicians. Following that, he started the Mother Eff project with guitarist Rick Musallam (Ben Taylor, Carly Simon), Bryan Beller and Joe Travers.
Keenan soon turned to creating his own music drawing on a love of Jazz and the singer/songwriter tradition.
He shares about his 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.
