Pay attention now, there’s a big beardy guy doing something
interesting by melding hip-hop beats with rootsy, soulful songs – and I don’t mean
Rag’n’Bone Man. Nope, I’m talking about
Canadian singer-songwriter Matt Andersen, whose album Honest Man shows off the quality of both his supple, resonant voice
and his songwriting collaborations.
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| Matt Andersen - disguised as Roy Wood |
The use of beats was the idea of New York producer
Commissioner Gordon (yes, really), giving a modern twist to an artist who
generally starts from an acoustic base.
And it has to be said it works like a charm, whether it’s on the likes
of opener ‘Break Away’, with its summery, Jack Johnson-like feel and
sprinklings of bright guitar, or the similarly reggae-fied ‘All The Way’, which
has a steadier groove reminiscent of Clapton’s version of ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s
Door’.
The title track juxtaposes a shuffling beat with soulful
horn riffs and dashes of organ, while Andersen effortlessly demonstrates that
he knows what he’s doing vocally – he’s got a great range, great control over long
extended notes, and great sense of dynamics as he goes from booming to muted to
bring out the best of the material.
Meanwhile ‘Quiet Company’ adds some country stylings to the beats to
convey a rural idyll.
The beats don’t dominate entirely though. Andersen can do sombre alright, as on the
gorgeous piano-and-vocal ballad ‘I’m Giving In’, with its chorus of earnest
submission and big bridge. And there’s a
straight-ahead, simple rhythm on ‘Last Surrender’, a sublime piece of aching,
soulful pop worthy of Motown. Current
single ‘Who Are You Listening To?’ has more of a kick to it, recalling Gerry
Rafferty in one of his more upbeat moments, with crackling electric guitar from
Benji Bouton and some bubbling piano.
The album closes with ‘One Good Song’, a dreamy, more
country-acoustic piece featuring flute accompaniment, about the vicissitudes a
musician is prepared to endure in pursuit of the elusive prize of the title –
with plenty of evocative lines such as “I’ll take Christmas alone in Australia,
I’ll take ‘Hi, how are you?’ on the phone”.
The PR bumf says that Andersen has no need to worry about
having just one good song, and for once it’s not empty rhetoric. Quite how these songs will work when he takes
them on the road for his upcoming solo tour, I couldn’t say. But if you’re looking to bathe in a soulful
voice singing some seriously good songs, then give Honest Man a spin.
You can catch Matt Andersen playing the following solo
dates:
18 May Dublin The Grand Social
19 May Fochabers Fochabers Public Institute
20 May Inverness Tooth & Claw
21 May Aberdeen The Tunnels
22 May Edinburgh Mash House
24 May Manchester Night And Day Café
25 May London The Borderline
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