Oh, These Days
Self-Released, 2023
8/10
This sophomore album from the folk-friendly artist Billy Keane recruits plenty of harmonies, bouts of horns and even organ moments that help make all 7 songs worth repeated visits.
The warm acoustic guitar and heartfelt singing of “Speak Your Name” opens the listen with plenty of soulfulness, and the fuller “Bathing In Your Light” follows with more emphasis on drumming, where cozy backing vocals help emit a nearly gospel feeling.
Some of the best tracks land in the middle, where the rhythmic “Halo” flows with no lack of melody and animated brass, while “I Only Love You When I Think Of You” finds itself in very intimate areas of soft and poetic song craft that might bring to mind Jackson Browne.
Arriving near the end, the dreaminess of “Oh, These Days” carries plenty of retro-ideas via the timeless folk rock, and “The Pilgrim Age” meshes playful bass lines with glowing horns populating the heartland rock sensibilities.
Keane is quite familiar with ideas from the Laurel Canyon scene, and his distinct vocal timbre illuminates these sincere, thoughtful and forever relevant songs.
Travels well with: Pierce Edens- A Life In Trade; Time Sawyer- Dig A Little Deeper