Keegan Powell may not be a familiar face, but you may be familiar with his recent work as the guitarist and co-songwriter for Chastity. While never a public facing member of the project, Powell has been co-writing most of Chastity’s output with frontman Brandon Williams, and playing guitar on their recordings since their earliest releases. Now, the LA-based Toronto native is sharing his first recorded single under his own name title The Door. Take a listen via Youtube below.
While the track has some similarities to his work in Chastity, Powell’s first solo single establishes his voice as distinct from that of his other project, winding through a thicket of influences to recall, variously, Primal Scream, Galaxie 500, Mazzy Star and ‘Modern Life is Rubbish‘-era Blur, all adorned with the densely arranged and unpredictable guitar playing that has become Powell’s calling card.
“I was getting ready to leave for the night and head up to the studio for a session I had booked when The Door came to me suddenly,” Powell tells Stereogum. “I knew I had to get it down before I started my drive into the night, so I hit record on my voice memo and got the whole thing down. I wrote the lyrics in my head on the drive up and finished the song the next day in the studio. It’s about your demons knocking at your proverbial door and saying ‘Well, you know… maybe that’s not such a bad idea…’ one day and going ‘Nah, Nah, I don’t think so…’ the next. It’s an ode to the human cycle of temptation.”
The Door is out now and it’s available for purchase here.
Live dates
Oct 9th – Toronto, On – Horseshoe Tavern
Oct 16h – New York, NY – Pianos
