Hashtag Magazine

View Original

KESHI ANNOUNCES REQUIEM, OUT SEPTEMBER 13

KESHI ANNOUNCES REQUIEM, HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SOPHOMORE ALBUM

OUT SEPTEMBER 13

 

PRE-ORDER/PRE-SAVE HERE

 NEW SINGLE “SAY” TO BE RELEASED FRIDAY

Gearing up for another chapter, keshi —the acclaimed Houston-born singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist— has announced that his anxiously awaited new full-length record, Requiem, will be released on September 13th, via Island Records. It notably marks his first album since 2022.

Pre-order/Pre-save HERE.

Opening up the world of Requiem, the first song off the upcoming album “Say,” culminates with a chantable refrain uplifted by his powerhouse delivery. The single, co-produced by keshi, Elie Rizk, Malay, and Imad Royal, will be released this Friday.

“In all my attempts to make meaningful music, I overlooked songs that were built to just get people to move,” keshi shared on the making of “Say.” “I remember touring on the road and really craving to play songs that just felt good to groove to. ‘Say’ is my answer to that. It’s got a moody sort of cadence with an admiration for city-pop baked into it.”

Across 13 tracks, Requiem sees keshi embrace a myriad of sounds and textures, pairing Y2K-era pop bombast with intimate lyrical ruminations. He has not only delivered the boldest vocal performances of his career, but also performs on the bass, guitar, piano, and strings. Ultimately, he translates life’s turbulence, twists, and turns into a procession of lush and lively anthems.

Recording the album between Houston and Los Angeles, keshi personally executive produced the album alongside frequent collaborator Elie Rizk. Not to mention, he tapped the talents of producers and co-writers such as Imad Royal [Doja Cat, BTS], J. Que [Usher, Joji, Beyoncé], The McDonough Brothers [Joji], Jacob Ray [Joji, NIKI, Jackson Wang], and more. Throughout the album, he lives up to the core ambition of serving up arena-size pop with alternative experimentation and integrity.

During 2022, keshi reached critical mass with his debut LP, GABRIEL. It tallied billions of streams fueled by “LIMBO, “UNDERSTAND,” “GET IT,” and more. He notably achieved the “Top New Artist Debut of 2022, scoring “the highest first-week sales of the year for a debut album” landing him on the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 and Top 5 of the Top Album Sales Chart.

GABRIEL also affirmed him as a headlining force of nature. He concluded the LP’s sold out tour cycle with two sold-out nights at Radio City Music Hall in New York, NY and a pair of sold-out dates at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.

He incited widespread acclaim from the likes of W Magazine, CLASH, Consequence, and more. NPR applauded his “signature falsetto, delicate guitar and piano melodies, and lyrics that touch on loneliness and desire,” and Teen Vogue attested, “Every note and beat in ‘Gabriel’ is intentional, and each song is a puzzle piece that fits into a bigger story.”

In its wake, he canvassed Asia on the “EPILOGUE” tour. Along the way, he touched down for a performance in Hong Kong for the first time.

2024-2025 is set to be his biggest yet with a worldwide arena tour to be announced. 

ABOUT keshi:

Born Casey Luong, keshi has emerged as a creative alchemist of the highest order, layering universally resonant hooks atop inventive and immersive soundscapes. He materialized out of Houston, TX with the EP trilogy—skeletons(2019),bandaids(2020), and always(2020). Plus, he notably contributed “War With Heaven” to Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: The Album. Brands such as YSL, Fender, Microsoft and Fendi have sought him out for collaborations. In 2022, he presented his debut album, GABRIEL, receiving tastemaker praise and touring worldwide. Now, he draws everyone into his world on 2024’s Requiem.