Initially, Finn reveals, their “post-grunge” sound was “completely frowned upon” by London tastemakers: “we’ve had a lot of comparisons to Wunderhorse, and we have taken influence… but it was important to see Wunderhorse building something without playing post-punk. We couldn’t really get gigs because we weren’t in that lane.” But now, Keo’s ’90s-tinged sound is firmly in vogue - a far cry from their adolescence, where hip-hop was king and Jimmy “was weird for playing guitar”.

Setting the standard, monstrous album opener ‘Be Happy’ – “all [Finn’s] influences blended into one” – is a grunge-laced beast, before ‘That’s Me’ retains the tension with coarse production. Listen closely, and lines like “That’s me / I’ve become a fucking plague” cut deep, as Finn opens a window into his brutally-honest lyrical voice. Beyond the “thrill” and “risk” in the song, it was written as an apology for one particular person in his life.

“We trick ourselves into thinking no-one is ever going to hear this stuff,” begins Jimmy. “Emotional stress, joy, or melancholy - whatever emotion lingers in me, it’s the unaddressed stuff that normally comes out,” adds Finn. “But my subconscious brain is writing the song, a deeper version of me that I can’t even address. It’s in the corner of your eye, and if you turn to look, it’s gone.”

What’s clear from ‘Put A Smile On For Me’ is that Finn worries about showing up for the people around him. “I’ve always had this constant desire to be the best I can be, but I beat myself up too much sometimes,” he reflects after a pause. “I let perfectionism bleed into me as a person. I’m full of imagination, and it drives my creativity, but it can also make me imagine the worst things and outcomes. A lot of the record is talking about how I let my imagination get the better of me, and almost speak things into existence.”

Jimmy is often the first person to hear these gut-punch lyrics. “We’re very close. We’ve had conversations before the song comes about,” the guitarist shares. Has writing this album relieved some of the weight on Finn’s shoulders?; ‘How are you?’ feels like the most important question to ask him today. Finn laughs. “Me and my girlfriend of two years broke up a month ago. I actually feel in the right place, but I think that comes with the ups and downs. I would rather have a life that’s up and down than straight down the middle.”

Hence, it’s this underlying topsy-turviness that has come to define Keo’s music; as Wolf Alice told them recently on tour: “that feeling of arrival never [comes]”. For Keo, though, chasing it is enough. As for Finn, he’s determined to keep chasing the best version of himself, too: “the more vulnerable people are in general, the better a place the world will be.”

‘Put A Smile On For Me’ is out now via Island Records. 

Tags: Features, Interviews, Neu, From The Magazine, Keo, September 2026