Since the release of their first full length release ‘Floating Above Everything Else’ in 2023, Keeley Moss and her eponymously named band have felt like a massively important part of the indie underground. That record’s heavy nods to a shoegaze and dreampop past ensured listeners who spent the 1990s as wide-eyed twenty somethings found an immediate connection with the KEELEY sound, while the lyrical content – heavily influenced by the narrative surrounding the murder of young traveller Inga Maria Hauser – gave some great tunes a cerebral edge. 2024’s ‘Beautiful Mysterious’ repeated the formula, but certainly didn’t sound like a band treading water. If anything, the album sounded a little more confident; richer, even, and it was clear there was certainly more of a story to be told regarding the Hauser case.
Released at the beginning of 2026, ‘Girl On The Edge of The World’ marks a welcome return for Moss, and this record finds the band sounding even better still. In Keeley’s own words, the album is the first time the “sonic swirl” of the KEELEY live experience has been captured in the studio. Things don’t always sound markedly different to before – particularly from an outsider’s viewpoint – but it’s a great sounding recording, and occasionally rockier edges show off a band with a real presence.
What is clear, however, is that the album arrives with all guns blazing, when ‘Hungry For The Prize’ kicks everything off with KEELEY in a rockier mode. From muted guitar notes, a really crashy indie rock riff quickly rises, giving the band’s rhythm section more of a prominent role. Despite flaunting an occasionally tougher sound, those who love the shoegaze edge of their past works certainly won’t be disappointed, since the dual guitar tone that fills the bulk of the track sounds superb when drifting between the swirling atmospherics of a great verse and the crunch of one of KEELEY’s most impactful choruses since ‘The Glitter & The Glue’. Better still, the track’s sedate middle eight finds time to venture a little more deeply into the otherworldly, with echoing tones and backmasked sounds providing a perfect compliment to one of Moss’s quieter vocals. Fans will love this, without question, but in lots of ways, this track will be a very effective showcase for the first time listener, since a wealth of strong riffs and a big hook make ‘Hungry For The Prize’ a very accessible listen.
Also presenting a much rockier stance, ‘Crossing Lands’ works around a hugely muscular Peter Hook-esque bassline, post-punk guitar chops and a much more pacey feel than the average Keeley track. It’s good to hear Moss and her band really going for it, and the guitar lines, in particular, give off a pleasingly live sound. This isn’t a complete departure from the band’s past, of course: weaving in and out of a spiky verse, there’s a very familiar vocal that’s immediately recognisable, and an injection of indie pop for the chorus provides a stronger link with a couple of the band’s earlier numbers with the help of a much bigger hook. If there’s a small criticism to be made, it’s simply that this track comes up a little short. Just as you’ve really got behind the busy groove, everything comes to a sudden halt. This might, of course, be symbolic of a life cut short, as per the album’s source text.
This musical travelogue starts strongly, but promises more great music over the horizon, and taking a quieter turn, ‘London Fields’ drifts into a mood that feels more typical of the KEELEY sound. The number opens with a classic, dreampop influenced guitar line where bright, clean notes serve a great melody that leans into an indie-folk mood. Joined by Keeley’s ethereal vocal and a hopeful lyric where the protagonist dreams of things she’ll see, “where [she’ll] be by teatime” and the British fish and chip shops, everything feels very natural. The sunlight that shimmers “on the Ford Cortinas” helps to throw the listener right back into the 80s in a very simple way too, continuing to share Keeley’s natural gift for setting a scene very effectively. A stripped back number, this couldn’t be any further removed from ‘Hungry For The Prize’ if it tried, but it definitely goes a long way to giving this album a much bigger sense of scope.
‘To Bring You Back’ takes a little longer to tune into, as Keeley’s voice doesn’t always fit as naturally with the music, but for those who still reach for those 90s albums on the 4AD label, middle period Lush and late Cocteau Twins works, the music is likely to be a delight. Driven by a mid tempo, various shimmering guitar lines rise and fall between the vocal sections, and some lightly approached keys lend a late 80s sheen that suits the slow burning number well. Elsewhere, the album’s lead single ‘Who Wants To See The World’ drops the audience into a near perfect indie throwback where the drums occasionally hint at a baggy-tinged groove, which suits the dancing bassline that brings the biggest sense of melody. Over the tight rhythm, the guitar launches into full on shoegaze mode, throwing arcs of distorted in the listeners’ direction, fusing the occasional melodic elements of My Bloody Valentine with a Ride-esque focus. Obviously, Moss is there, front and centre, and her now familiar voice feels natural when rising and falling against the music. It’s the kind of number fans will latch onto immediately.
The title cut gives the album not just an immediate standout, but the greatest KEELEY track to date. It dispenses with the expected shoegaze guitars for its first act, and instead centres around some very 80s keys, allowing a slow, mellow drone to build an atmosphere. The effect is like hearing classic Blue Nile balladry infused with a synth goth undertone, but as you’d imagine, this provides a perfect backdrop for Moss when sharing an understated vocal. Bringing in some light dreampop guitar at the eleventh hour, the track begins to feel a little more like traditional KEELEY fare, but without breaking the mood. Sometimes retro can feel too much like a musical shorthand for lazy or overly familiar; here, the retro vibes quickly feel like a musical cocoon, soundtracking a dream state that’s genuinely comforting, despite appearing in the middle of a suite of songs that are cloaked in genuine tragedy.
Most of the material on ‘Girl…’ is very strong, but there are two tracks that really stand out due to their high profile guest spots – and it’s likely these numbers that will pull in a world of new fans. ‘Big Brown Eyes’, a collaboration with ex-Lush legend Miki Berenyi, presents a typical shimmering guitar line from Moss, augmented with a second soaring lead and a world of ominous sounding keys to create one of the album’s more introspective arrangements. The descending melody applied to the vocal lines will be immediately familiar to KEELEY’s growing army of supporters, but this immediately striking piece really springs to life when Moss and Berenyi harmonise. Berenyi’s high tones work brilliantly in tandem with Moss’s warmer, almost chocolatey tones, making this sound like a tribute to the greatest 90s recording that never existed. Cranking the guitars and boosting the drums elsewhere, this eventually drops into a perfect slice of shoegaze, almost worth the price of admission alone.
On ‘Trains and Daydreams’ – the first of a duo of linked tracks – it’s Boo Radleys man Sice who’s given a guesting role, and although his contributions aren’t necessarily as striking as Berenyi’s, his occasional backing vocals give an already great tune a welcome lift, drifting through the wall of sound almost as if they were ghost-like. Musically, this is another winner: the interplay between an upfront bassline and a world of dream pop guitars creates a busy sound that constantly draws the ear during a well structured verse, whilst a noisier rhythm guitar attacks on the chorus in a way that shows how effortlessly KEELEY can hit a brilliant fuzz-laden groove. This is the kind of track that could easily sit within the material on the previous two long-players, showing how consistent Moss is when it comes to songwriting. Nestled at the other end of a great album, ‘Daydreams and Trains’ sets a very slow dreampop melody in place from the outset, layers the vocal with filters to give an extra feel of ominousness, and uses a beautifully clean guitar to link the melodies. Moss’s longer notes give her vocal an extra feeling of drifting, of being in a haze, but never lose sight of an accessible melody as she relays another aspect of that tragic final journey from April 1988. Fans won’t necessarily discover much that feels brand new here – either musically, or conceptually – but, as with most of this record, will almost certainly love what they hear.
‘Girl On The Edge of The World’ is an interesting album. ‘Beautiful Mysterious’ has a more consistent feel, but the high points of this twelve song offering definitely feel higher. As a complete work, it might take a little longer to appreciate, but there’s little doubt that its greatest moments [the title cut, ‘Crossing Lands’ and ‘Big Brown Eyes’] show Moss reaching a new maturity in terms of overall vision. This is definitely a recommended listen for fans and anyone looking for very cool indie based sounds.
February 2026