Over the past few months, Brooklyn-via-Maryland singer/songwriter Keenan O’Meara has released admittedly heavy but undeniably beautiful folk songs on his Soundcloud. The more recent track “Mania,” for example, has the Berklee-educated musician telling of pained lovers over a slowly involving mix of guitar curls and ominous background effects. “Might As Well Swim,” (streaming below), a nimble yet resolute guitar-based song that recalls Department of Eagles’ great ‘In Ear Park’ LP, is similarly striking in its imaginative lyrics and apparent subject (a troubled “child of privilege the world will never need”). Like a great tragedian, O’Meara offers the possibility of redemption with his harsh but gorgeously-rendered dramas. See him at Rockwood Music Hall this Sunday 5/24. – Zach Weg
We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best mellow songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!