Oregon musician Brad Jones, also known as Keez, is making waves throughout the music and film worlds as a musician and film composer who writes vibrant songs with a lot of soul. After having his music featured in several film trailers including The Neighbors and Ant-Man, he has released his latest record Water Creatures, an infectious and vivid album that feels electric with a varied batch of songs that will connect with pop, funk, and R&B fans.
With a pseudonym like Keez, we don’t really know what to expect from Jones at first, and while we aren’t sure if his name lives up to his music, his work has enough production overall to still sound incredibly stylish, without overdoing things. While his music is more suited for a smaller fan base due to his eclectic musical format, Jones’ wins you over immediately, with funk laden drum beats and smooth vocals on the opening track “Motorcycle.” Sounding very much like a dance track, the song is well done while also coming across as vivacious.
While the record itself is a long one, with seventeen tracks total, Keez manages to mix up the record to include some more pop influenced cuts that feel more aligned with reggae, as he veers away from dance music and tries writing a song with a relaxed beach inspired riff, which also includes trumpets, on the appropriately named track “Paradise.” Following “Paradise” is “Mr. Stallenbrown” which includes a piano, taking listeners away from the funk and dance songs on Creatures and experiments with pop. While this song is entirely centered on the piano and vocals, it’s one of the best tracks on Water Creatures as it has its own personality along with its ability to pull the audience in with only two instruments present.
“Back In The Light” is the last song on Water Creatures and with its R&B vibe, it is one step further into Jones’ musical world. While he certainly has a talent for writing songs, it feels like his strength is composing songs for movies, as many of the tracks would be a perfect addition to a movie soundtrack, as they establish a wide range of emotions that films can convey perfectly if they have the right music.
Water Creatures is a release not to forget and Jones has positioned each song on the album to compel his audience to introduce his music to as many people as possible, due to every song sounding different and unique, while also feeling like it could apply to many different scenarios and experiences in the lives of his fans.
You can stream the record below, via Bandcamp.
