I caught Matt Hegarty, who trades under the moniker Matthew and the Atlas, live at the Zenith Bar in Islington a week or so ago [note: this was in June 2009]. I was thoroughly impressed with what I saw and managed to wheedle an EP out of the guy, and I’m pleased to report that, much like his performance that night, it’s excellent.
I’m not normally a fan of husky, honeyed vocals but in this instance I feel I must make an exception. His delivery is probably best described as “soulful”, but that term’s been so over-used by music hacks that it merely sounds trite and meaningless here. Suffice it to say there’s enough gravel in his voice to impart plenty of bluesy imagery, but with enough genuine personality to prevent it coming across as too mannered. And while all this was very impressive in a solo acoustic performance, the record itself takes things to another level entirely.
Normally the addition of banjo/slide-guitar/etc is merely par-for-the-course for solo singer/songwriters, but in this case they are handled with such subtlety and grace that the end result far exceeds the sum of its parts – a depressingly uncommon occurrence in my experience. The scope of this record is vast, especially as it’s merely a self-released EP. I’ll cut this review short here, as I’m in danger of dissapearing in a whirl of hyperbole and over-enthusiasm. Just have a listen to the tracks bellow; they’ll tell you far more than I ever could (surely a prime example of the benefits of mp3 blogging over print-media).
It looks like Matthew’s being a busy bee vis-a-vis gigs this summer, so if you get the chance I heartily recommend checking him out.
Matthew and the Atlas – Scavengers
23 July 2009 at 8:42 am
Absolutely stunning, the timing of the instruments is on fire.The vocal’s are
fearless and the package is spellbinding.
31 January 2010 at 2:12 am
Just heard Matthew and the Atlas through the Frukie Communion mixcloud at Folk Radio UK. Fantastic discovery! I reserved the Communion CD last weekend because of another artist, but now I’m counting the days.
13 October 2010 at 11:26 am
Hi,thanks for putting the 2 songs from the scavengers ep up:) they are amazing! ,could you possibly put the remaining tracks on also please?would really appreciate it if you could,thanks again:)
13 October 2010 at 12:04 pm
Considering this post is well over a year old now, it’s still proving to be pretty popular. Obviously it’s a testament to the fact that, for once, someone good is getting the attention he deserves.
Neil; sorry to disappoint, but I don’t like to post whole releases here. Even if it’s just for streaming, it feels too much like the thin edge of the wedge that leads into ethically murky territory.
Under normal circumstances I’d direct your attention to a “buy” link for the EP, but a quick search yields no sign of the record anywhere. You can get a free download of Deadwood (from this EP) here for the price of an email. The fact he’s calling it an unreleased home recording would suggest that Scavengers is of dubious provenance, but being as he himself gave it to me I can say that it was definitely a proper record.
(for reference, the full track listing for Scavengers is:
1. Hide Under the Sun
2. Deadwood
3. Scavengers
4. Beneath the Sea
5. I Will Awake, and Wait…)
30 October 2011 at 5:06 am
guitar…
[…]Scavengers: Matthew and the Atlas « Eaten by Monsters[…]…