Kelley McRae, an artist living in Brooklyn, made her CD debut in 2006 with the album Never Be. The album received rave reviews, including four stars in Paste magazine and her performance on WNYC’s ‘Soundcheck’ was named one of the year’s best. With her newest release, Highrises in Brooklyn, produced by Brian Deck , she deserves more longitude.
Kelley, like everyone else, makes a daily commute through joy, despair, gratitude, doubt, hope, fear, shame, and the rest. Big cities like New York have a way of uprooting us existentially and daring us to call them home. In many ways, Highrises in Brooklyn is Kelley’s answer to that call. She chides Brooklyn’s highrises in the album’s title track, confesses co-dependence on late-night bars and diners in “Last Call Town” and “Long Walk Home,” both rues and needs the BQE—the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in the pop number “BQE.”
The resulting songs have inspired and moved other artists, directors and musicians. Her music has been featured in numerous television shows and independent films, including the Sundance film ‘Children of Invention’ and the hit TV show ‘Army Wives.’
