Keywest

History

Keywest started as a duo made up of childhood friends Andrew Kavanagh and Andrew Glover, who grew up together in Artane, Dublin. They first hit the streets as buskers in Galway, then moved back to Dublin to perform on Grafton Street, a famous spot for street performers. Their first album, The Message, came out in 2012 on Alphastar Records. It reached number 15 on the Irish charts and number two on the Irish iTunes chart, and later earned triple-platinum certification in Ireland.

The band produced the album themselves, with Mark Needham handling the engineering, and it was released as a double CD—the first disc held the main album, while the second featured an unreleased EP. That same year, Keywest got a nod for Best New Act at the Meteor Awards, and The Message was up for Best Debut Album at the Hot Press Hotties Awards. They also inked a worldwide publishing deal with Peermusic in Los Angeles. Next came the Electric Love EP, put out independently on their own label, Sonic Realm Records.

The title track and lead single, "Electric Love," climbed to number one on the Irish charts. In 2014, the band won Best Street Artist/Busker at the Hot Press Awards. The following year, they were fined for breaking Dublin's busking noise limits. Their second album, Joyland, dropped in September 2015, debuting at number two on the Official Irish Chart before hitting number one the week after.

In 2016, Keywest released the This Summer EP, also through Sonic Realm Records, with the title track leading the way. Their third album, True North, arrived on 30 March 2018, entering the Irish charts at number three and topping the Independent Music Chart. That year, they earned three nominations at the Irish Post Music Awards: Best Song, Best Album, and Best Band. In November 2018, they signed with Marshall Records.

Their fourth album, Ordinary Superhero, came out on 18 October 2019 and reached number eight on the official Irish Album Chart. The track "I'm Not Me Without You" features Irish singer Una Healy. The title song, "Ordinary Superhero," was released at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, working with Irish and UK charities that supplied PPE to frontline workers, and its music video showed those workers during the crisis.