Chicago label Lake Paradise has had an impressive run since launching a couple years ago. Hell, in its inaugural year it released one of my favorite local LPs of 2013: Mines’ Just Another Thing That Got Ruined. That being said, I like to keep my eye out for Lake Paradise releases, and just a couple weeks ago the label pressed the cassette version of Leaving, a spare acoustic album from a gentleman named Pat Keen. The Wisconsin singer-songwriter gravitates toward a plainspoken style of songwriting throughout the album, and it produces a fair amount of beguiling moments. Today’s 12 O’Clock Track, “What We Like and Who We Are,” is one of my favorites in the collection, in part because its simplicity foregrounds Keen’s loving lyrics and sweet, gentle singing. It’s the kind of song I wish was twice as long as it is and I’d probably still think was too short, but its fleetingness is part of what makes the song an unexpected joy. Stream it below and grab a cassette copy of Leaving from Lake Paradise’s Bandcamp page.