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Twenty-one tracks, two sides, real strings and independent label: Keeno puts on the table a project of magnitude, between liquid symphonic DnB and dark arrangements.
Twenty-one tracks, two discs, an independent label. In a long interview published by UKF on July 21, 2026, Keeno announces "LIGHT / DARK," a double album conceived as two sides of the same gesture. On one side, "LIGHT": strings, piano, uplifting liquid DnB. On the other, "DARK": dramatic arrangements, more aggressive writing. It's an author's project, published on his own imprint Keeno Music, with a format that assumes ambition: two vinyl records, two CDs, a pre-prepared USB key for Rekordbox, digital, and a line of merchandise.
Two albums, one composer, a polar reading. Keeno doesn't hide the idea: "LIGHT" is the orchestral-melodic side of the record, "DARK" its more tense side. Here is a rare gesture in the DnB scene - not a compilation of old singles brought together in an LP but a doubled project, structured as a diptych. The tracks mentioned in the interview on the "LIGHT / DARK" side include "Polarised," "Flock Of Ravers," "Read My Mind," "Stronghold," "Juliet," "Chiaro," and "Not Soon Enough." Also noteworthy is the gesture of the independent label: Keeno publishes with Keeno Music, not via a major DnB imprint. These are two self-produced and self-published discs, which weighs on the meaning of the project.
The collaborators cited in the UKF interview give a clear idea of the texture aimed at: Noppo on drums and production, Sam Welch and Kate McGill on vocals, and especially the real string quartet Vibre Strings - not a patch, not a sample library, a real quartet. Vio.let, DJ/producer and violinist, also appears in the live setup. This is consistent with Keeno's DNA since his first releases: the piano, harmonic writing, orchestration as a backbone rather than as dressing.
This is an announcement, not a review. Without having listened to the twenty-one tracks, we won't judge the result. What we can say: the structure of the project (orchestral/dramatic diptych, real strings, independent label, USB pre-Rekordboxed for DJs) shows that we are not facing a disposable LP. Keeno has built his gesture over the years on harmonic precision and an uncommon relationship between DnB and chamber music. A full double album held on this proposal, with a real string quartet, is a bet.
To watch. We await the listening to decide - but the announcement is solid, the format ambitious, and the independent label. We will come back to it track by track when the disc is on the turntable.