Hat-or-Belt

'Featured Artist...14/August/2026...Hat-or-Belt'

Hat or Belt is the musical moniker of Canterbury-based songwriter/music-maker Keith, whose surname’s letters are all contained in ‘Hat or Belt’. The songs of Hat or Belt blend reflective lyrics, catchy riffs and hummable tunes to create a distinctive indie pop/rock flavour, with a dash of quirkiness, idiosyncrasy and melancholy, all served up in an English spoken-sung vocal.

Hat or Belt emerged in 2025 with two singles, “Everything’s Changing” and “You Never Know”. The third single, lockdown song “Christie”, was released earlier this year, picking up over 580 airplays around the world. The songs have attracted descriptions such as “quirky”, “catchy”, “hooky”, “poignant” and “touching”, with listeners comparing them to the likes of Cockney Rebel, Howard Jones, Lightning Seeds, Madness, New Musik, Pet Shop Boys, Prefab Sprout, Squeeze, Two Door Cinema Club and Velvet Underground.

Hat or Belt’s new single is called “Up”, and like the previous singles was recorded and produced at Lightship 95, a former lightship (floating lighthouse) marking the Kent coast, now a floating recording studio in London’s Docklands. The track was produced and mixed by Giles Barrett and engineered by Mike Collins, who also plays electric guitar chords. Listen out too for the ‘lift lady’, courtesy of Keith’s workplace.

“Up” was originally written with a female singer in mind before Keith revisited the song to come ‘up’ with his own version with its layers of synth chords, sliding notes, repeated riffs, electronic drums and various guitars, topped off with BVs and his English spoken-sung vocal. The catchy chorus has gone ‘down’ well at live shows, and the song contains some ‘classic’ Hat or Belt stops and key changes.

“Up” and the previous three singles will be included on Hat or Belt’s forthcoming album, due for release later this year.