Keo Release Debut Album ‘Put A Smile On For Me’
The Island Records release arrives alongside new single ‘Be Happy’ and a Tommy Davis-directed video.
Keo’s debut album Put A Smile On For Me is out now via Island Records, alongside the record’s opening track and new single, “Be Happy.” Written and recorded in a matter of weeks, the album was made mostly live and self-produced by frontman Finn Keogh with guitarist Jimmy Lanwern.
“Be Happy” examines Keogh’s doubts about happiness and his envy of people who seem content with everyday life. “There have been times in my life where I have questioned its existence,” Keogh said. “But near the end, in all the song’s chaos, I brush all of those feelings to one side with ‘nevermind’. If you think about all of that stuff too much, fear takes over and then you never really live anyway.” The single is accompanied by a video directed by Tommy Davis. Set in a forgotten cinema, it shows Keo performing to an unhappy audience while another version of the band appears on screen in a bright world of sunflowers, sunshine and clear skies. As the crowd begins to react, the two settings start to merge.
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The album also includes previously released singles “That’s Me,” “Pistol” and “Bird On The Wire.” The first introduced the record with self-questioning lyrics, while “Pistol” takes a heavier approach and “Bird On The Wire” moves into quieter territory. Across Put A Smile On For Me, Keogh addresses shame, accountability, memory and vulnerability. The band pair those subjects with shifts between ragged guitars, larger melodies and more intimate passages, drawing on influences including Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden and Radiohead.
The release follows a year in which Keo moved from London’s underground circuit to larger venues and festival stages. The band supported Wolf Alice and appeared on the Main Stage at Reading & Leeds this summer. Their October UK headline tour sold more than 9,000 tickets in its first 24 hours and is now sold out, including a date at O2 Forum Kentish Town. Keo are also due to play O2 Academy Brixton in London on March 12, 2027, their biggest headline show to date.
