First Solo Album from Seeker Keith

Introduction Review Some Secrets About 'Secrets Of The Heart' Audio Clips

Review

Seekers fans have been eagerly awaiting this album and their expectations will be more than met. But if you are not a dedicated fan, just perhaps a casual browser, then stop for a look and a listen to the sound clips. Keith`s body of solo work, composed by himself with the help of a few co-writers, is a tour de force. It has depths and layers and surprises which will resonate with those who know Keith`s ways of thinking and his songwriting, and will come as an exciting new discovery to those who don`t.

From the moment the album opens with `Good Friends` - an uptempo number with great guitar playing from Keith - you realise that you are in for a treat. This man has a fantastic solo voice, particularly remarkable for the fact that he suffered a serious and total loss of voice and thought he would not be able to sing again. This first track has a Seekers-y feel to it without being derivative - Keith wrote some of the Seekers` songs of course. The next track `As Long As I Know You Love Me` is another fantastic vehicle for Keith`s solo voice and really showcases its light and shade. Poignant and beautiful.

`Soul To Soul` is just gorgeous, and possibly the piece de resistance of the album. An absolutely luscious ballad with a beautiful intro and a recurring motif of haunting and unexpected changes to a minor key, this achingly longing song settles itself into your heart and soul on its first hearing. `Peace In My Time` shows Keith`s versatility and the contrast of his writing styles - it has a country feel, a great tune, and a philosophical lyric about war and a father`s loss.

`The Matriarch` is a hymn: to women, to mothers. Thought-provoking, unusual, with a simple tune, it explores both the low and the high register of Keith`s voice. `Welcome To The New Sunrise` is another track with a Seekers` flavour, though of the 90s rather than the 60s - it makes a good companion to `Future Road` (the track). `Deja Vu` has a great retro feel and could well have been a 60s hit for the group. `My Holy Grail` is, as you might expect, a haunting, New Agey song with an unusual intro. In fact the intros on most of these songs are very strong indeed and there some unexpected and beautiful instrumental parts.

`Friend Like You` has another gorgeous intro and a wonderful acoustic treatment that allows Keith`s voice to stand almost alone and exposed in places. And `Denmark Sunset` is a surprise - a rich, dreamy orchestral piece, almost classical in feel. Sounds like good film music - with a delicious little quirk at the end! But these are just a few of the nineteen treasures on this beautiful CD.

The album, `Secrets Of The Heart` sounds timeless. There are fleeting reminders of the 60s, of the 90s, of now - but they are transient because the music is original, it is itself. Keith has made use of double tracking in several places and this is extraordinarily effective. The intricate harmonies and use of chords are often surprising, and add the layers that make such a rich sound. Occasionally you might find yourself thinking `Simon and Garfunkel could have sung that` - but then again, you might not! Versatility is one of the album`s great strengths, but it is the quality of the songwriting and the performances that make this such an outstanding CD.

Read on for Keith`s own introduction to each track - you`ll learn a lot about him from this album.

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