Zack Keim can find inspiration nearly anywhere. The Pittsburgh singer-songwriter hatched the hook for his 2022 single “Canyon” while driving around Washington, D.C. making food deliveries. “I was delivering Uber Eats, and I wrote that on my phone—just a voice memo,” Keim recalls. An insistent vocal refrain (“Can-yonnn!”) was all it took; Keim started strumming the melody on his guitar, and pretty soon the song blossomed into a buoyant folk-pop gem of a tune.
A few years later, “Canyon” is the galvanizing opener of Keim’s second album, Battery Lane, a substantial leap forward from his 2017 debut First Step. Steeped in yearning melodies, deceptively intricate arrangements, and songs that reckon with youthful heartbreak and self-discovery, Battery Lane (due out February 7th, 2025 on Super Sport Records) establishes Keim as a preternaturally gifted songwriter whose work bridges the gap between garage-rock scuzz and kaleidoscopic indie-folk reveries.
Battery Lane—named after the street he lived on in the D.C. area—represents the long-gestating result of that collaboration. The album, produced by Animal Scream and Jake Hanner, finds Keim’s songwriting talent in full bloom and arrangements richer than ever. The record veers fearlessly from the roaring rock & roll stomp of “25 Years,” a Strokes-inspired throwback to Keim’s garage-rock roots, to the elegant balladry of “Comet,” which finds the songwriter ruminating on the roiling chaos of the world while swooning vocal harmonies soothe his racing mind. There’s even an instrumental interlude, the pastoral “Woodley Park,” which takes influence from Paul and Linda McCartney’s Ram.
For the wunderkind songwriter, Battery Lane is an artistic coming-of-age, and a reintroduction of sorts. “I grew up listening to lots of indie rock and 1,2,3, but then I shifted into the hardcore garage direction,” Keim says. “Now I’m finding my voice as an artist.”
If Battery Lane serves as a loosely autobiographical narrative about Keim’s formative years, its title track, named after a street in Bethesda, MD, forms a pair with “Washington D.C.,” a kind of wistful elegy for Keim’s time in the titular city: “I’m staring down a city I don’t live in anymore/And I fell in love with living and remember life is short,” the singer muses. Today Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of “Battery Lane” and its accompanying music video. Keim’s voice carries a wisened charm as he sings the opening verse with only his acoustic before introducing warm musical textures. There is a sense of reflection and nostalgia in his dreamy vocals that is amplified by the visuals of Keim wandering through his neighborhood. There is a quiet force to the song that makes it an impressive work of folk songwriter craftmanship.
Keim describes the inspiration behind the tune:
“It’s about going back to start all over again. In August 2019, at 22, something deep inside was calling for change. I needed to get away — to find independence. The people around me in my hometown had good intentions, but I could feel their expectations weighing on me, as if they saw a path for me I wasn’t sure I wanted. I moved to the Washington DC area, in part, to figure out who I wanted to be. Battery Lane had a mystic, almost timeless vibe. The building wasn’t fancy — built in the 1920s, with worn floors and old fixtures. But something about its age and character made it feel like a place where I could truly find myself.
As I started settling into my new life, 2020 hit. That year forced many of us to look at our lives differently, and I was no exception. My relationship ended, my grandmother passed away, and I lost my record label. The weight of it all was overwhelming, but every loss and every mistake forced me to look deeper into myself. Within the walls of Battery Lane, I picked up my guitar again. Music had always been there, but now, it became the one thing that kept me grounded.”
WATCH:
2025 Album Release Shows W/ Band:
Feb 28 – Washington D.C. @ Comet Ping Pong 🌟
March 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Alphaville 🌟
March 2 – State College, PA @ Manny’s🌟
March 5 – Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s 🌟
March 6 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle 🌟
March 7 – Columbus, OH @ Rambling House 🌟
March 8 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Hall 🌟
🌟 = W/ Opening Set by Special Guest
Mikey Carnevale (The Frights) Solo Acoustic
