It was April Fools Day 2007 and this year the weather hadn’t played any tricks on us quite yet. An opportunity then to don just a t-shirt in anticipation of the sweaty gig to come − you know, beer sloshing everywhere and at least one group of battered blokes moshing frantically. Well, Scott Matthews intuitive fusion of folk, jazz, blues and world combined with Jeff Buckley inspired vocals was never going to be quite that frantic, but nothing could have prepared me for the sense of calm that prevailed.First was Josh Pyke, armed with nothing but his Australian accent and acoustic guitar. The songs were pleasing but disappointingly forgettable and the audience waited in restrained anticipation for Scott, who has already inspired an army of fans who love his debut album. It is soulful and artistic without being pretentious and accessible without becoming mainstream. He is an original guitar player, combining delicate finger picking with bluesy guitar slides. Then there is the addition of the cellos, sitars, flutes, harmonicas and tabla, and a rockier bass and drums rhythm section to consider, though curiously it’s actually the Cello player who rocked out the most onstage. The album ebbs and flows through seventeen tracks and this approach seems to be reflected live. Songs merged into songs and crescendos of energy resulted from transitions between songs like, the soulfully emotive “feathered medicine” and my personal favourite “dream song”. The singer’s manner of addressing the crowd was slightly less fluent however. He seemed awkward, and muttered incomprehensively so that nobody knew quite what to make of him. There is no doubt though that Matthews possesses an extraordinary voice, wavering on falsetto notes with an emotiveness that is irresistibly Jeff Buckley-esque − a consolation perhaps for some awkward wisecracks.
Scott Matthews fooled no one, his music however posed a rather refreshing start to April.
www.myspace.co.uk/scottmatthewsmusic
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