Following the release of their 2023 single, “Hopeless,” a tribute to the band’s late vocalist, Keaton Pierce, Too Close To Touch has announced their final album, For Keeps, which is scheduled to arrive on March 8 via Epitaph Records. The album announcement, its title acting as a play on one of Keaton’s nicknames, “Keeps,” coincides with the release of the group’s latest single, “Control,” featuring the vocalist.
The band—Keaton Pierce, guitarist Mason Marble, drummer Kenneth Downey—wrote and performed the track, with Erik Ron contributing on bass. “Control” captures Keaton’s signature piercing vocal prowess layered against a backdrop of heavy-hitting instrumentation and production. The track explodes with emotion as Keaton belts, “Deeper and deeper it goes/Why am I sinking/Why am I stopping/Everything that’s gonna save me/Everything that’s gonna save me.”
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A beautifully pieced-together video featuring artist/director Whit Flint creating the For Keeps album artwork accompanies the new track. Check out “Control” below.
In addition to the new single and forthcoming final album announcement, Too Close To Touch has also issued a mini-documentary. Featuring guitarist Mason Marble and drummer Kenneth Downey, the pair candidly discuss the end of the project, the final album featuring Keaton, and what it signifies to them as they close this chapter of their lives.
“‘For Keeps’ is our last gift to the Too Close To Touch community,” Marble shares. “Too Close To Touch would never have existed without Keaton and will not exist without him in the future. I think that’s a very important thing we had to come to terms with, and I think everyone needs to come to terms with who listens to the band. The project was us together, and that’s the way it needs to stay. Those things that would come really naturally, that really resonated with the people who loved the band. They couldn’t be emulated with someone else filling his shoes.”
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Downey adds, “To be able to give it closure is a blessing. To have this much of him left, his lyrics and emotions captured… not a lot of people have that.”
For Keeps Tracklisting:
- Novocaine
- Disappear
- Hurt Reynolds
- Hopeless
- Heavy Hearts
- Control
- Designer Decay
- They Don’t Even Know
