Zack Keim can find inspiration nearly anywhere. The Pittsburgh singer-songwriter hatched the hook for his 2022 single “” while driving around Washington, D.C. making food deliveries, singing voice memos into his phone. An insistent vocal refrain (“Can-yonnn!”) was all it took; Keim started strumming the melody on his guitar, and pretty soon the song blossomed into a buoyant folk-pop gem of a tune. Keim’s first solo single since his 2017 debut , “Canyon” serves as a monumental leap forward and the first taste of Keim’s forthcoming sophomore effort, Battery Lane. Keim returned in April of 2023 with his standalone single “Better Days,” a wistful gem that wrests melodic bliss out of pangs of nostalgia. “Better Days” hearkens back to Keim’s garage-rock roots with what he describes as a “fast-paced Ramones/Beach Boys vibe”: pounding tempos, wall-of-sound harmonies, vintage six-string textures. Lyrically, the song summons the feeling of sitting in a diner seat, longing for better things in the past, a theme captured by the evocative music video, which was directed by . Keim co-wrote the tune with Costa, the indie singer-songwriter, and Chad Monticue of Animal Scream in California. “Better Days” is out now as a 7inch Vinyl via Action Weekend Records (Europe). Keim’s second solo album, “Battery Lane” is out now.