Tuesday 28 January 2014

Matthew And The Atlas - Louisiana, Sunday 27th January

Former landscape gardener Matthew Hegarty has assembled a tight folk/rock ensemble of real quality and with a hotly-anticipated April debut album on the way the future is looking very rosy for the recent Mumford and Sons support band. 


A well-known figure on the folk scene as a solo artist, Hegarty was the first signing to Communion Music, now home to Ben Howard, Treetop Flyers and er, Gotye.  Now with a band that give the bespectacled frontman’s best tunes an atmospheric cinematic power and brooding brilliance, the group appears destined for a shot at the big time themselves.  It’s fair to say that the nation may be a little Mumforded-out right now but fear not, Heggarty and Co are bringing a brand of folk which uplifts and surprises substituting a hint of rhythmic dubstep for those well-worn faux-irish hoe-downs.  Mysteriously absent tonight are the sumptuous vocal harmonies from long time collaborator Lindsay West, but in truth her absence reveals an edgier less trad-folk sound that may prove more of a mainstream attraction. 


Two things hit home from the start of this gig; firstly there’s no bassist –those sustained basslines are in fact coming from the keyboardist.  Secondly, Hegarty’s voice commands the complete attention of his audience; his fractious warble holds the room with a timeless quality only really equalled by fellow retro crooner Richard Hawley.  New single ‘Pale Sun Rose’ opens with a melodic maritime banjo met by a tropical guitar hook and a ground-rumbling, plummeting soprano.  It’s one of a fair few that enchant the sell out crowd with its thick synthy layers that oddly benefit from those chirpy slappy electro drums.  There’s a reasonably awkward silence between tracks with little crowd interaction, many of their tunes seem to rather uncomfortably and abruptly just, well; end.  Regardless, next track ‘Everything That Dies’ is a classy anthem including a hovering bassline and a transfixed Hegarty borrowing from Springsteen’s ‘Atlantic City’ as he booms out the bittersweet mantra “You said everyone you know, one day will surely die/But everything that dies in some way returns.”  Throw in some shuffling drums and choral harmonies and it all sounds strangely uplifting without the band at any point breaking the shackles. 


The performance drifts a little shortly afterwards and the intensity does drop giving way to earnest folk that veers into the middle of the road.  ‘Out Of The Darkness” brings it back to the boil and it’s another slow-burner which showcases the frontman’s vocal gymnastics amid a cold piano.  Snappy drums, rattly bass and a wall of distortion underpin the impressive penultimate track which couldn’t be further away from the folky Americana of the first two EP’s.  Hegarty humbly thanks the crowd before announcing “we have to go now because we haven’t got any more songs.”  How the long-awaited debut will fare you feel will much depend on whether they continue their fantastic experiment; with a bigger venue tour already booked in, the beaming audience tonight certainly hope so.


Best Tracks: Click on link below

Matthew And The Atlas - 'Everything That Dies'

Kindly published by Bristol 24-7
http://www.bristol247.com/2014/01/30/review-matthew-atlas-louisiana-bristol-43944/



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