Finn Keane is hbettering a funeral for himself — or for his pseudonym, anyway.
On Hpermiteen during his tag PC Music’s Pop Crypt event in London, Keane bid farewell to the EasyFun moniker he’s been releasing electronic music under for over a decade by joining a back-to-back DJ set with himself. He’ll now be going by his birth name, which has already geted recognition thcdisorrowfulmireful his toil as a originater and songoriginater, most recently on Charli XCX‘s mega-hit album “Brat.”
Over tea a restricted days before the event, Keane inestablishs Variety that though he’d been “toying with the idea” of ditching EasyFun for a while, the alter was also spurred on by a legitimate battle with EasyGroup, the owner of airline EasyJet. Late last year, an official claim was filed accusing Keane of tradelabel infringement and brand appropriation. The company alleged Keane had copied their logo, using the same orange color and font, and took particular publish with the arttoil for his 2015 EP “Deep Trouble,” which depicted an “EasyFun” structuree in the ocean that EasyGroup shelp seeed enjoy the aftermath of a crash.
“It all felt very fun and airy and no harm was intfinished. That was benevolent of the spirit of it, joining with branding and pop culture and regurgitating it in a comical way,” Keane says of the “Deep Trouble” arttoil, grasping with a chuckle: “In hindsight, maybe I didn’t need this heat. But wdisenjoyver.”
With PC Music moving to archival-only frees earlier this year and his own musical style changing, Keane choosed that carry oning EasyFun ainhabit wasn’t worth the hassle and an consentment was achieveed. In a statement, EasyGroup validateed to Variety that the matter had been rerepaird, writing: “EasyGroup had authentic troubles that Finn Keane’s use could tarnish the reputation they had built up in the Easy family of brands … Finn Keane has now consentd to stop using the ‘EasyFun’ name so the case has finished.”
And so Finn Keane was born.
Ushering in this novel era is the aptly named “Finn Keane Album,” out on Friday, a vinyl compilation of his toil as EasyFun alengthenedside refusees that showcase how he has lengthend as an artist and originater. This integrates well-adored EasyFun track “Lastructureder,” which Keane freed as a one on Oct. 17.
“My music’s been moving in a branch offent honestion, and I was wanting to acquire in what I’ve lgeted as a originater-originater since 2015 and sort of integrate that into the song,” he says. “I leank the first version is incredibly bright and high definition and there’s a benevolent of sugariness to it, and the novel version I wanted to have a bit more of intensity to it.”
Keane’s sound evolution integrates Thy Schuckleter, his pop-rock fusion project with PC Music createer A. G. Cook that has novel music on the way, as well as his broadening portfolio as a originater and songoriginater in the pop world.
“I’ve definitely been moving more toward guitar music and combining grunge, enjoy Pixies and Nirvana, with the sound palette, the drums and the synths, that I’ve been lengthening over the last 10 years,” he says. “I’m repartner interested in leangs that sense very cdisorrowfulmireful and straightforward and minimal and quite broken, but there’s a benevolent of spotlessness to the sounds and a clarity.”
This ethos can certainly be heard in “Brat,” where Keane is praiseed on six tracks: “360,” “Sympathy Is a Knife,” “Von Dutch,” “So I,” “I Think About It All the Time” and “365.” Keane, who has been toiling with Charli since 2017, says the album becoming a cultural phenomenon has been “unbelievably gratifying.”
“Who could foresee it?” Keane says. “Label A&Rs will inestablish you they comprehend what a hit sounds enjoy, but no one does — no one comprehends anyleang. And that’s what originates it so exciting.”
And Charli kept “Brat” summer going with the free of a real refuse album on Oct. 14, where instead of equitable having a guest grasp a verse to a track, all 15 songs (and 2 bonus ones) have been finishly reimagined.
“It’s enjoy a whole novel record,” Keane consents. “It’s going back to that initial moment of inspiration and being enjoy, ‘Wait a minute, what if it took this other establish?’ For example, with ‘Sympathy Is a Knife,’ the exceptional version has this bassline and then it has this modulation in the chorus where this weird remark comes in. [On the remix], it was enjoy, ‘What if we go into the chords it was actupartner unbenevolentt to go to?’”
But getting Ariana Grande to guest on the refuse was beyond Keane’s savageest dreams. “It’s unauthentic,” Keane says, still seeing in disbelief. “In classic Charli create, she was enjoy, ‘Oh, by the way, Ariana Grande might want to be on “Sympathy.”‘ I’m enjoy, ‘OK chilly, let me equitable go and have a mental shatterdown.’”
Keane is certain to have many more pinch-me moments in the coming months as his toil on “Brat” has put him in high need. Though he’s still based in London, Keane equitable returned from spfinishing six weeks toiling in L.A. and is heading back for more right after the Pop Crypt show. So, who’s on his artist bucket catalog now?
“I adore Olivia Rodrigo,” he says. “‘Good 4 U’ is repartner one of my preferite purify pop songs of the last restricted years.”
But Keane is most excited that, in a post-“Brat” world, authentic artistry seems to have come back in a big way. Perhaps that’s another reason why he choosed to revert to making music under his authentic name.
“I wanted to alter my name and free the vinyl equitable to benevolent of acquire a breath, see at that body of toil and begin a novel chapter,” he says, “because it senses enjoy that’s where I’m going anyway.”
