Dense, bustling Boston seems hardly a fertile ground for contemplative alt-folk, but Boston’s Mackenzie Keefe is out to disprove that. On his sophomore full-length, Big History, Keefe deftly twists elements of jangly, gentle indie rock and modern folk like an ice cream cone. There’s even a bit of lounge pop thrown in there for good measure– in fact, it’s hard to fathom fellow New Englander Ryan Power didn’t serve at least partial inspiration for the floaty “Small History”.

Yet the lyrics here are just as important as the music, telling a story through the changing tides of emotion and relationships. The playful “Trivial” (I can’t help forgetting birthdays/
And your distant family’s names/ But you still love me all the same/ So why be trivial when I can be with you) gives way to the comparably bitter “The Thought of You” (Spent a few months with ventriloquists […]/Trying to learn how to sync up your lips/With this script that I’ve revised)”. With such carefully crafted lyrics, is Mackenzie Keefe a musician first, or poet?

Stream Big History below via Bandcamp, where it’s also up for grabs as a limited-run cassette.