Luca Bash - Keys of Mine (Self-Released)

Italian singer-songwriter Luca Bash has never been afraid to follow his own whim, and his new album Keys of Mine is a surprising creative burst of renewed excitement. It’s his first release since his ambitious project CMYK, a series of four acoustic EPs all released in 2015. Backed by a full band this time, Bash has recorded a deeply thoughtful and mature body of songs, and the album is almost a fulfillment of a promise hinted at with his previous EPs. Regardless, CMYK seems to have been necessary in his growth as an artist, because Keys of Mine is the sound of an artist reveling again in being surrounded by the creative atmosphere of like-minded musicians.

Nothing is particularly innovative about the structures of the songs themselves—many could have sat comfortably on any album by Dave Matthews or The Lemonheads, but it’s his dedication to honesty and exploring what he describes as the “underside” of whatever intended subject which makes his voice compelling. From the funky and humorous relevance of “Millennium Idiot” to one of the album’s sincerest moments, the beautifully tormented “Crumblin’ Lover,” Keys of Mine is Bash’s most intimate and earnest statement yet, even with the layers of varnish.