Keor 'Tearoom' Review

Updated: Apr 6, 2021

A review of the new Keor album ‘Tearoom’ which will be released on April 7th 2021

Artwork by Victor Miranda Martin and Trigonal Art with the help of Ambre Lardeux and Stany Marchant

Victor Miranda Martin, the genius behind Keor, has been cooking up a third album for some time now, sharing snippets of the journey on his various Facebook pages. It was somehow always clear that this release would go in a new direction and mix new flavours, creating a more eclectic step musically for Keor.

With Tearoom, the new album, Victor (Keor) has elevated the previous gothic, melancholic sound that has become so familiar in their discography into something that, while true to the original tones of the first two albums, innovates the music without compromising quality. With tracks like “Blossom” being an impactful punch of colourful, uplifting energy, and the following track “Warlike” resonating as a familiar aggression-fuelled pout in Keor’s discography. Tearoom also seems to deliver on something that I had picked up on between the first two albums; a change in vocal style, intonation and feeling. I mentioned in my previous review of the re-booted “Hive Mind'' that Victor’s vocals reminded me heavily of Layne Staley (Alice in Chains) and that the vocals on Petrichor were more delicate and smooth. On Tearoom, the style changes again; even in the more aggressive moments (Warlike) Victor exercises a more informal/familial tone to his voice, it’s as though he is being emotionally honest in every syllable he sings, though with previous releases it felt more like a performance (not a bad thing, because performance can fulfill a genuine emotion, just not in a genuine way). Keor’s third album feels like a return to the rhythmic pulse of the debut release “Hive Mind'', which is really interesting because while Hive Mind was a descent into darkness, Blossom feels like an ascent into happiness.

!!! is a micro-intro track (much like Haken’s “Affinity.exe” or I Don’t Know How But They Found Me’s “Introduction”) that builds nicely into Blossom. “!!!”, if I remember correctly, is a track that Victor created based on/with help from friends on Facebook. He had requested people send in voice notes/lines of writing that depicted what the negative voice in their head tells them. This track seems to be the result of not just one nagging doubt, but every single nagging doubt. And that, for some reason, is really powerful to me.

Blossom explodes into life; “Okay! Alright, oh my gosh, fuck me! Let’s do this!” are the spoken-word lyrics that greet us. It feels to me like the embodiment of a new lease of life; as though Victor stepped out the doors of Petrichor after a few months of hibernating, got into a sunny room early in the morning and became excited with the energy and possibilities of this new album, as though the music was already there, waiting for him, and welcoming him into it.

Warlike opens with sickening tones and tribal percussion, and this particular track is the one that gives me the biggest Hive Mind flavours. With foreshadowing, chaotic yet subdued riffs building every so often behind the vocals, it’s certainly a track that conveys anger on a surface level, but also subtly. The way a lot of it is so minimalistic feels like it’s an angry animal being held back (during it’s more “empty” sections) but is then let loose in angrier, heavier sections. During the second half, I sense similarities to Lucid Planet’s “Organic Hard Drive” in that it adopts a highly rhythmic trance-like effect while carrying across this otherworldly feeling of suppressed anger. Make sure you keep an ear out for callbacks to the previous release, “Petrichor”. This track is definitely one I’ll have on repeat for a while.

“Took a Nap” opens with all the majesty and theatrical magic of previous Keor tunes like “Snivel by the Pond” but soon sombres up, transitioning from movie-score to love-letter. The raw emotion in Victor’s vocals make this song really difficult to listen to (for all the right reasons). This is an exact example of what I mean when I say we hear Victor singing his emotions in this release rather than him singing songs that represent emotions etc.

I’ve mentioned this before, but snippets of archived audio; news broadcasts, old films/shows etc - having that blended into music just works for me (Public Service Broadcasting is a godsend). Underworld opens with this, so it immediately piqued my interest, but that was overridden by how much this song SLAPS. INSTANTLY. It does all of my favourite things (acoustic, stripped-back version of the riff interrupted by a heavier, electric variation), vocals following the pattern of the riff; it’s like this song was made for me. The riff also weirdly blends a little bit of anger with passion and happiness (portrayed through crowd vocalisation). The song goes everywhere it should: dirty, gritty guitar tones, acoustic noodling, slow builds to a chaotic finale, anything you could wish for from a Keor song. It also echoes Warlike by returning to the Digital Hard Drive-esque rhythmic thumping turning almost into dance music. Definitely my favourite track on the album, though this will probably change on a rotation for a while before settling back to “Underworld”.

“Learning God” is the longest and penultimate track on Tearoom. It begins as a mournful, ethereal track. Really atmospheric and beautiful, but of course transforms into something more animated. After this “breakout” of higher-energy segments, the instrumentation between drums and guitar works incredibly, it’s almost like listening to two different songs at once that fit really well together. Learning God serves as the most “Petrichor-esque” song on the album; transforming from acoustic melodies alongside atmospheric moans and vocals into sections with syncopated energy and taunting rhythms. There’s one part of Learning God that for me, initially takes the continued spoken-word segments of the album a little too far; there’s just a little too much chit-chat for me until this track gets to the impactful spoken word lyrics, but when it does get there, it’s worth the initial hurdle, and the remainder of Learning God REALLY delivers on the warm feeling that the latter half of the spoken-word inspires.

“Marta - I Am Keor” has a really sweet lyrical reprise (that I won’t spoil, as it gave me goosebumps). This track feels like a beautiful, reflective way to end the eclectic, busy, and oftentimes visceral piece of work that is Tearoom. Though, no Keor song would be complete without an energetic mood swing; Marta - I Am Keor is no different, concluding with an upbeat riff that feels like a crowd of people walking off into a sunset, emotional victory in hand.

Each song blends nicely into the next, making the whole album a really enjoyable and smooth journey. Definitely something you need to digest as one thing (even if you are a “single song” kinda person). And while spoken-word is often very hit-or-miss for me (but in times of “hit” it REALLY hits) Tearoom manages to deliver most of it’s spoken-word in such a cohesive way that makes the album feel so unique; of course there are concept albums out there, but this just strikes as something different, something more- and I think this can be attributed to Keor’s spoken-word throughout that strings the narrative together in a hyper-realistic way. This album is a solid 8/10 for me, and easily ranks above the debut release of Hive Mind, and so far matches the greatness of Petrichor for me- though Tearoom’s greatness for me will only grow with time.

Please make sure you give Victor/Keor some support, check out their bandcamp or social media and really consider looking into their previous releases too - you won’t be disappointed. As always, thanks for reading.

- James Carstairs