Kevin PM explores love, grief and memory with his album, The Light That You Left Me.

By Graeme Smith

A singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Northeast Florida, USA, Kevin PM (real name Kevin Mahoney) pays as much attention to his lyrics as he does his rich instrumental arrangements. We see this through his album The Light That You Left Me.

As well as making music, Kevin is a performance and video artist, as well as a sculptor and painter. He has the ability to create a rich picture with his music too. The Light That You Left Me opens in a stripped-back and intimate way with The One About The Hawk. Acoustic guitar marries with lingering pedal steel notes and soulful harmonies. Percussion comes in, providing a bit of earthly texture to the ethereal arrangement. It all backs the poetic lyrics beautifully.

Esperanza follows, livelier but with just as much atmosphere. Each track on this album seems to inhabit its own space, yet they hold together cohesively, like a series of interlinked scenes. Tall Grass comes in waves, and brings with it a sense of nostalgia. What Lands In Your Cup is raw, folksy and philosophical.

The One About The Light is delicate and mournful while title track The Light That You Left Me tempers it with catharsis. Flying is suitably soaring before The One About The Moon closes the album, and wraps up its themes of narrative and nature nicely, with some light fingerpicking and a sense of resolution.

Kevin’s new album is exceptional. It leans into its folk and country roots while reimagining them. Storytelling runs through everything from its lyrics to its instrumentation. It’s one that’s easy to get lost in.

The Light That You Left Me was written between 2019 and 2020 and was recorded at Pulp Arts Studios in Gainesville, Florida, USA between 2021 and 2023. It’s out now via Long Jump Records, available to buy as a digital album on Kevin’s Bandcamp page. You can give it a listen below.