The Kev (Kevin McGeary) is an interesting character. A former satirist in China, The Kev’s work features comic music at its finest, with a fun twist – drawing inspiration from his time in China. The result is the unprecedented blend of creativity, humour and silliness, making him one of Manchester’s beloved musical comedians.
To be honest, I didn’t even know comic music as a genre existed until I learnt about this artist. I have to admit that it is like nothing I have heard before. McGeary’s music sounds more like short stories than songs, and I meant that in a good way!
Wishes in the Whispering Leaves is The Kev’s 5th album, and this one is now in full English, as after two albums in Mandarin-Chinese, he decided that ‘things were getting too comfortable’ and threw himself into production of a 10-track full-length EP, (literally) as he wrote, produced, composed and played the lead guitar all by himself for the EP.
The EP in itself is a satire narrative of a modern relationship, starting with “Millicent”, the name of the bride to the main character of the story. In easy-going drums and simple melodies, McGeary describes all the ridiculous yet somehow realistic situations in the relationship, which is mostly diabolical and you can’t help but be impressed by McGeary’s witty lyricism.
“I’ve Fallen in Love with a Mermaid” follows a similar trait, the same parodic delivery, this time framed like a classic love ballad which makes it more genius. While “There’s a Way for Us” continues the toxic romanticised version of the ideal partner, “You Complete Me” surprises the listener with a female voice feature. The purposeful dissonance between their voices somehow works perfectly here in proving his point.
“How Do I Say I Love You?” is a funky tune breaking up the “sentiments” and “Childhood” is actually a lovely track with a gentle guitar topline, furthering the storyline with entering parenthood. The title track screams cynicism and is where McGeary let loose with his writing, probably the climax of the story with how harsh he was going with the disses.
The EP wraps up with “Fly Away”, McGeary’s heartfelt rant about weddings. It hits the peak of dark-humour with how The Kev blunts out ‘Fly~Away~’, an ironic end to the tragic love story that lives in many modern relationships.
In the interview with Gerry Fialka, The Kev describes his music as “Naughty but nice”, and I think Wishes in the Whispering Leaves is the perfect embodiment of that, just enough to be funny, yet sad enough to be true.
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