Thursday, 12 July 2018

Scott Matthews - The Great Untold, album review


Genuinely

Strange to read [somewhere] Scott Matthews stated as the natural heir to John Martyn – or words to that effect – and clearly drawing musical parallels. I don’t see/hear it at all, unless the suggestion is Matthews is a fine artist, which he is.

What I hear is much more Rufus Wainwright and Jeff Buckley, perhaps early Ron Sexsmith: fine enough touchstones for tracing a lineage, and this is in the sweetness of the vocal – which John Martyn of course had in his early work, though quite a different sweet factor, and his latter jazz slur became its own phenomenal and distinctive instrument.

This is a genuinely pretty collection of popfolk songs that are finely crafted and performed, which is a rather clichéd assessment but that too is quite genuine.


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