Absolutely: Smells Like Keen Spirit

It’s early morning in LA, and Absolutely – real name Abby-Lynn Keen – is in the midst of plans. Her partner is hosting a party, she tells me, as she slips into a car. At the age of 21, the musician has had an unprecedented year. She’s had a massive online hit, supported her older sister RAYE, who headlined All Points East, and now she’s got a new album on the way. Absolutely’s second album, Paracosm, is thoughtful, compelling and a window into her quirky, emotionally honest universe. 

Onstage, the singer dresses with intention, donning outfits that feel fit for a Tim Burton movie. Today, however, she presents herself as Abby, rather than Absolutely. Her vibrant colours are toned down and she’s wearing an elegant, satin-looking dress in soft grey, along with delicate earrings. We discuss Paracosm – a title which lends itself to the imaginary world. It’s a mystical step into a direction where Keen finds power and solace in her voice. On the record, she unravels feelings of adjusting to fame and relationships that didn’t quite work. It’s an album that finds its own pace, flickering between punchy drums to wondrously nimble, balladesque tunes. 

For Keen, the album is a reminder, a motto to not lose sight of your child-like imagination. “I realised that I needed to reignite that wonder again and I think I managed to do that,” she recalls. As she scribbled down lyrics and slotted in studio sessions around a busy schedule, Keen started to notice her album come together. Her lead sin-gle, ‘I Just Don’t Know You Yet’ amassed a cult following online, with fans asking her to release a studio version, as well as a live one. She became more confident with developing new skills, like production, and putting her twist on her music. 

Keen worked to reclaim her original flair of creativity, soon finding a new mindset: “I wrote a song called ‘Nowhere to Hide’ and that was the reset, because before then I was so stuck. I heard a track from Justice West, who plays guitar at my shows, and the track sounded so cathartic and heart-wrenching, which perfectly connected with [me],” she explains. Wading through the emotions, Keen experienced a breakthrough, quickly penning lyrics for ‘Nowhere to Hide’ and coming out the other side with a clear vision. “It was time to just tear everything down – all the walls I’ve built – and all of these structures to try and protect myself. Creating that song really healed me,” she reflects.

“After that, I made ‘Goodbye Glitter’ and ‘No Audience’, which are the most whimsical and playful songs on the album. I think that those last pieces really helped to pull everything together and see the bigger vision for the album.”

Here, Keen explains more about the process behind making her new record.

You’ve had a lot going on at the moment, from announcing you’ll be supporting your sister, RAYE, on tour to making your TV debut on The Graham Norton Show. How have you been?

I’m good. I did – that was scary! Also, the TV lighting makes everything look so surreal. I remember going up there and being like ‘Wait, what am I doing?’ It was cool; it was a really cool moment to be there with my sisters, too.

You’ve had quite the breakthrough. You’ve been making music independently from a young age and now you’re signed to Epic Records. What has it been like to reflect on that progress? 

I put out my first batches of music at 14. I was shy and scared of everything. I was content existing in a bubble and not having to do any of the live performing, promo or interviews, and I was so scared to get into that space. I’ve evolved so much by stepping out of my comfort zone. Every day, it’s been really surreal. Everything has happened so quickly. Sometimes, it’s easy to be on autopilot, getting things done, but looking back at everything, it’s so beautiful to see how far I’ve come, and All Points East was the realisation.

Your first album, CEREBRUM, came out in 2023. How has the world-building and creative process been different for your upcoming record? 

The process of creating it was very different to the first one. [CEREBRUM] kind of made itself. I would go to the studio, do melody passes, write lyrics, and later I’d come back one day to finish it. We made the whole album in a few months, but with this second album, I definitely paid way more attention to detail. It’s been two years since I started making it, and it has been so many different versions of itself. I have a whole [record’s worth of songs] that didn’t make the album that’s sitting in my untitled folder. I spent a lot more time making sure that everything was intentional. I spent multiple sessions going back in and seeing how many layers could be added and reinterpreted. 

Your new album is an eclectic work-in-progress, drawing on themes of creative identity, relationships and fame. You’ve named the project Paracosm – what inspired that title?

As I was finishing the album, somebody commented on my YouTube: “She’s my paracosm,” or something like that. I searched it up, and it fitted perfectly – I was like, ‘This is my album title and that ties into my visual world.’ The word “paracosm” means [to think about] fantastical worlds, characters and places that you create in your child-hood that carry through to your adulthood. During the process of making this album, I feel like I lost that. I lost sight of my first love of music, and I was thinking too logi-cally about everything. My flow of creativity felt blocked: I couldn’t write songs for months, and I was trying to figure out what the missing piece was. I had been trying to look through the lens of everyone around me and how somebody else would perceive this song and understand it. 

Your hit single ‘I Just Don’t Know You Yet’ is sensitive and beautifully written. You have a lyric that alludes to faith. Can you share more about your lyrics and your relationship with religion?

I have a great connection with God, the Creator of the universe, and this song came from a moment where I was in bed and I had an urge – sometimes, I have urges to pray for people, certain things – and I felt like, in my heart, I should pray for my future husband, like he was going through something. I hadn’t had that before. I was just praying for him, and I felt it so heavy on my heart. The next day, I went to the studio, and it was a beautiful release; it was like that song was a prayer in itself.

What got the highest rating?

Probably ‘I Just Don’t Know You Yet’. 

What was your personal favourite song? 

The first song on the album, the intro song. It was a very tough process. I’m at the very, very end now, but it wasn’t until I put the track list together that I saw certain things didn’t fit anywhere. Also, albums are expensive, so adding another song could be thousands extra, so I had to bear that in mind.

Albums are expensive, and touring is costly as well. Little Simz famously talked about the difficulty of financing tours and new projects. What have been your biggest industry obstacles? 

There’s a lot of pressure, but I think my love for music just overrides everything. I love making music so much. I love songwriting. I love the whole art of putting a song together and creating visual worlds. There are some difficult aspects – of being in the public eye and doing interviews. 

You’ve got an album on the way and a new single, ‘No Audience’, out very soon. What are you hoping fans will take away from your next project? 

I hope people hear the album, because I spent so much time on it, I would just love lots of people to be able to hear it. I’d like it to help people reignite their imagination again. I don’t know if I’m hoping for anything in particular, because everything that I want is already happening, like the tours. I’m really excited about my album coming out. Everything’s already mapped out.

Taken from the December/January issue of Rolling Stone UK, out now. Order your copy of the magazine here.