Hand To Mouth is concerned with what is essential. The songs are an elemental distillation rich with purposeful austerity. Only what is necessary is carefully crafted as though whittled into perfect forms of economic purity. With bare production and sensitive mixing from Chris Sharkey, we are in the presence of truthful music. Pieces that lay themselves bare in their humanness. It is a collaboration between two highly intuitive and synchronised musicians, able to reach and offer us, the listeners, emotions that feel sincere and vital.

It’s a told story, but one worth retelling here: Keeley had long made music through her adult life without gaining the necessary means, perhaps necessary confidence, to attempt recording and releasing it. The time eventually came during a personal period of crisis during which Keeley happened upon the music of Matthew Bourne during an episode of BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction. On hearing this, Keeley instinctively envisaged her voice marrying with the piano and promptly contacted Matthew. She was looking for new paths to emerge, and lead somewhere better - and Matthew was one of these paths. Matthew promptly met, after listening to what Keeley had been developing, which, with his assistance, eventually became Keeley’s debut LP Debris. Released at the beginning of 2020, the record was met with universal praise - and so commenced this ongoing chapter in Keeley’s life, away from acting and focusing more on music and live performance.

Cut to four years or so later, and the two are now close friends, regular collaborators, and make frequent live appearances on the stages of Europe together. After the 2024 release of The Hollow, on which Matthew co-composed the end song Creature, the two decided to make something focusing mostly on voice and piano. A collection of songs that are aesthetically paired down somewhat, that may translate authentically to the stage, whilst exploring the nature of a duo primarily between voice and piano.