Matt Keating writes songs that live where clarity and confusion meet. For more than three decades, the New York-based songwriter has built a quietly enduring body of work defined by emotional honesty, melodic instinct, and a refusal to chase trends. First emerging in the 1990s on Alias Records, Keating quickly earned critical praise for his “beautiful and honest songs of substance and melancholy” (Time Out London), establishing himself as a songwriter’s songwriter—deeply respected, if often just under the radar. He went onto release 10 albums in the following years, including Tiltawhirl on Alan McGee’s POPTONES label.
His newest album, Desperate Measures, marks a new chapter. Released August 1st 2026 on Janglewood Records in partnership with Minneapolis based label, Neurotic City, it’s a close collaboration with producer and multi-instrumentalist Kirk Swan and released as Matt Keating w/Kirk Swan. The record was shaped during a period of extended time spent in the California desert, where Keating was caring for his parents in the final chapter of their lives.
The songs that emerged from that time don’t dwell on events so much as what surrounds them—quiet moments of reflection, shifting perspectives, and the strange clarity that can arrive when there’s nothing left to resolve. With contributions from longtime collaborator Steve Mayone, and a guest vocal from Syd Straw on Lost Bird, the album moves between stark realism and quiet transcendence, finding unexpected grace in the ways people carry love, loss, and the passage of time.
Alongside his work with the band Bastards of Fine Arts, Keating continues to balance collaboration with a deeply personal songwriting voice. His songs don’t try to overwhelm—they reveal themselves slowly, often leaving the listener with the sense that something essential was there all along.
Still based in New York City, he continues to write, record, perform, and teach, following a path guided by the quiet pull of the next song.
“In a career spanning more than 20 years, Matt Keating has established himself as one of America’s great under-the-radar songwriters.”
— NPR Music
“Matt Keating is a cult hero worth cultivating”
— Stereo Review
“Beautiful and honest songs of substance and melancholy”
— TimeOut London
