Athens-based duo Keep Shelly In Athens have been churning out their idiosyncratic take on pop music since 2010, but 2015’s Now I’m Ready is only their second official LP. At eight songs and 45 minutes, the album strikes a concise, yet imposing figure, each individual effort comprised of enough peaks and valleys to bring the listener to the edge and back again. Lifted off by lead single “Fractals”, Now I’m Ready is not your typical indie effort, un-beholden to tempo and style, the album skips across genre tropes with ease, each track guided by producer R||R’s singular aesthetic and vocalist Myrtha’s unmistakable crescendos.
And whether you’re locked into a long road trip, careening around a city or looking over the Mediterranean, Keep Shelly In Athens bring an arresting pathos to the proceedings, felt everywhere from the breakbeat-led madness of “Hollow Man” to the ever-building, hypnotic vocal qualities of “Now I’m Ready”. It’s only the duo’s second official LP, but considering their release history on outlets as diverse as Cascine, Forest Family and Planet Mu, it’s no surprise that their arrival on Friends of Friends is such an unabated success.