Vietnamese-American artist keshi sat down for a virtual interview to discuss his much-anticipated album, Requiem. The title, which traditionally refers to a classical music piece played in honor of the deceased at a funeral, reflects the album’s themes.
The singer-songwriter named the album after a special song on the track list that he personally wrote; musically narrating his experience of dealing with loss a couple of years back which describes how he felt during those times. “Because it sort of changed my perspective on how I dealt with my time, and how I prioritize things, and how I perceive life to be like a lot shorter than we take it to be, sometimes we take things for granted. So yeah, that’s why I named it after that particular song.” He added.
On the creative process behind Requiem, keshi shared that it was more collaborative than his debut studio album, GABRIEL. Working with his best friends, also known as “the band,” has been a great experience for him. They all contributed their ideas and creative input, and keshi welcomed suggestions from his team, refining the best ones to fit his musical style and taste.
keshi’s house was where most of the artistic work process took place which became their band’s studio. They would go out for dinners, drinks, and nice food together while making the album. The team also listened to the song demo versions in the car, which was one of the most enjoyable parts.
When asked about his favorite part of the whole album-making, keshi stated, “It’s hard to pinpoint a favorite, because each song has its moment when, like, you nail something. But I think when I made the very first song on the album called Amen, I think that was a really special moment.I think we got something really insane. And the song’s only a minute long, but the amount of bravado and like how sort of dynamic the song was really exciting in the room.”
Talking about another song in the track list, Soft Spot, keshi mentioned that the inspiration behind it was the feeling of when somebody that you never thought that could change your perspective on the idea of falling in love. “And then, you know, you’re just taken by a wave of just you can’t imagine life without them after that, like every single thought is about them and you’ll do anything to just be near them,” he shared.
Down to his favorite song off of Requiem is the one of the singles that came out already which is called Dream. keshi shared how he was really proud of how the song turned out and the emotion packed into it. “Listen closely in the first verse, it’s all about she’s great, she’s this and she’s that. But it’s kind of revealed as you listen to the song that you’re talking to, the person that you want to be with the entire time. You’re describing the person that you’re with to the person that you want to be with.” he shared. “There’s a lot of like, little piano motifs and melodies that are very clear and intentional, but they don’t get in the way of the vocals at all.” Just a fun fact, it was also the very last song that they wrote for the album and for him, he sees it as it’s like the youngest child who mostly gets the most love.
On his love for music and his craft, keshi concluded that every project is a learning experience, helping him refine his songwriting, improve his production, and enhance the recording process. His fandom, Kults, can expect to see more of this evolution in his future project releases.
keshi on doing live performances and going on tours
The singer-songwriter is set to return to the live concert stage soon. Promising more live recording experience and a new set of songs for his tour, keshi’s Requiem World Tour will arrive in the Philippines on March 4, 2025, with special guest Boy Live.
Kults, get right into your feels and enjoy your night as you dive into euphoria with Keshi’s Requiem album released today, Sept. 13, available on all digital streaming platforms.
To stay updated, you may watch a special tour trailer keshi has dropped for Kults to add more excitement nearing the road show:
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