Unknown Component is the one man show also known as Keith Lynch. His newest CD draws on many of Lynch’s influences – which he lists as Radiohead, Dylan, Coldplay, Nirvana, The Beatles, and others.
Lynch’s songs seem to straddle two different vibes: an atmospheric one – almost Pink Floyd meets Coldplay – and a melancholy pop one – Nirvana meets Brett Dennen meets early Beatles.
In the first vibe, “Between Guilt and Relief” features dreamy emotional vocals that seem to highlight to conflicting feelings of walking away from a difficult situation or relationship: “I can see one hundred people like me, one thousand people like me, they’re always walking the streets…in between the thought of guilt and relief, exists a will to believe, it’s always walking the streets… I wrote a note, and it was written with greed, when I spoke, I struggled to breathe…if I show what was never believed, how do I know what is in it for me…” Also in a similar musical vein is “Identifying Interpretation”.
“Brought Up to Be Put Down” is a more pop-based tune, with its rough-edged melancholy vocal treatment bringing to mind the voice of Kurt Cobain or Billie Joe Armstrong. On “Into the Sun” the vocals are assertive, and the intended vocal strain adds a nice edge to the tune.
Another strong track is “Retrospectively Speaking,” with a catchy melody, nice use of harmony, and a haunting lyric: “Remember you said you’d be okay, well that was ten years ago today, Remember you said you’d be alright, well that was a decade ago tonight, In a make shift rowboat, the current takes us swiftly down the line, down the line…A rescue mission with blindfolds, a better way to keep this hope alive, down the line.”
Lynch has self-released a great deal of material over the last few years, most of which can be found on his website: http://unknowncomponent.com/.
