I attended Metro Radio Live tonight, one of these commercial radio sponsored shows that are overloaded with acts all vying for your attention in 3 or 4 songs. It's not the sort of thing I'd ever have gone to in the days BM (or before Matt) but it's an opportunity to take the kids to something while still at least having 15 minutes of something I like too - everybody wins - or so you'd think.
Once the DJ had spent half an hour shouting at the crowd to "get them in the mood" I was beginning to think I was wrong. As one after another act came on shouted "make same noise" and sang mostly pop rnb or rap over a loud and monotonous back beat, I started to seriously doubt my decision to come along. It seems to me that in a society that has such a short attention span for anything, this is the future of the music industry - 10 minutes and only play songs we already know, in case, heaven forbid someone had to actual sit back and experience something new or original.
I won't mention the individual acts because my comments about them would be pretty uniform, let's just say it's not my cup of tea!! Half way through the show, Matt Cardle performed; this is who I had come to see, the only one to be fair. He sang 3 songs, 2 singles and the most pop friendly album track - he didn't do any of the XF songs, including the winners' single, which one imagines would have gone down a storm.
He performed on his own, to a backing track, without his guitar or his band, because that's what you do in these things - the music isn't live and the singers sing over a track, and the experience is significantly more sterile as a result. Matt sang fabulously and played the crowd but was I the only one who thought the smile was a bit forced and didn't quite reach his eyes?
I enjoyed it, I'd be lying if I said I didn't but my overriding feeling was what is a singer from the world of, admittedly light, rock doing in this environment? Are Tichy Strider fans really going to "get " him and given the highlight of the night for seemingly the overwhelming majority was when Olly Murs thrust his hips suggestively in the middle of one of this banal pop songs, is this really an environment that his record label should be subjecting him to?
As I drove home, my thoughts went back 5 days to a gig at Baths Hall in Scunthorpe that I was lucky enough to win tickets to. Matt performed for half an hour, again on his own, but this time with his guitar in a one man acoustic set that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Totally at ease with the crowd and even throwing in an acoustic version of one of his old songs, Matt was superb. Only half an hour but one of the best concerts I have been to in years. Now I'm not saying he, should do acoustic stuff particularly; I was at his album launch at Koko with a full band and he was absolutely fantastic - but fully live is clearly where he is at home and at his best - the difference in 5 days was so great you almost would think they were two different artists.
So what does this leave me to conclude? I'm not sure really - it raises questions rather than provides answers; one of which would be who are his fans? The highlight of my week will hopefully getting hold of Springsteen tickets tomorrow, many of the Matt fans I know have tickets for Coldplay and Noel Gallagher so is the pop audience really where the label should be investing it's time? I'm not an expert but even I can see they made a mess of his lead single by playing safe with the XF link - I hope they are not going to compound this by failing to market him as the artist he is - and if they do I hope Matt Runs for his Life - as fast and as far away as he can get. I'll be there, whatever.
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Matt Cardle Letters - Review
I will start by declaring an interest. I'm a pretty big fan of Mr Cardle and in particular his previous bands Seven Summers and Darwyn so if you're looking for an XF perspective on his album, or just looking for an opportunity to have a bash at an XF winner, you're in the wrong place. Having said that, I'm also a fan of good music and singer songwriters in particular so I have been waiting with some interest to see if he could cut it on his own and not be overly influenced by the XF machine. Has he succeeded? well you'll have to read on to find that out.
The album art and lyrics booklet, complete with handwritten lyrics, show the intention of the label to position him as a singer songwriter, probably alongside the likes of James Morrison, rather than as a pop act, which is an interesting and potentially brave decision. In the long term it has to be the right choice because, frankly, Matt just doesn't have what it takes to be a bona fide pop star - he's probably too old, and definitely too grounded.
Anyway, on to the album itself, which starts with Starlight. This is a tremendously uplifting anthemic pop rock song with a drum beat that drives the song to the chorus, from which point Matt's huge voice kicks in and takes it even further. A great song and likely second single.
The second song is the first single, the Gary Barlow penned Run For Your Life. It's not a bad song, but it meanders along with not enough change of pace. The middle eight is great but it just takes too long to get there. I'll never understand the decision to make it a first single.
From there the album moves on to the soulful All For Nothing which is just beautiful. Matt's voice is a little rawer on this and the edge gives the song the desperation it needs. Just gorgeous!
The pace picks up with Pull Me Under which is a funky upbeat song about wanting to fall in love. It's a total change of direction for Matt and it works brilliantly and shows there is more to his voice than big choruses. Another good single choice.
When the song titles were first released I couldn't help wondering why anyone would call a song Amazing - I mean really? is it? and the simple answer is yes it is. Lyrically fantastic, a real tear jerker with an upbeat poppy sound. Certainly one of my favourite songs on the album and definitely the most easily accessible.
Tempo change again to Faithless, which is a ballad that builds from soft and gentle to quite a big sound by the end when the strings kick in . A sad song (is there a theme here?) about the impact of infidelity - I absolutely love this song; lyrically gorgeous and incredibly emotional. I could listen to it all day.
Beat of a Breaking Heart is a very stripped back, almost classical piece about heartbreak (obviously!) it's so raw that it makes me feel like I am intruding on someone's emotional breakdown and I find it quite uncomfortable to listen to. The fact that it can have that effect on the listener is a testament to it's power I guess - but it's a bit much for me.
The pace changes again with Stars and Lovers, the most obviously pop song and the one that drags you in on first listen. Sure to be a favourite live, though it lacks the depth of some of the other songs on the album. A great feel good track though - and I needed it after Beat of a Breaking Heart.
Very occasionally a song comes along that is completely perfect. Like a whole album experience in 4 minutes and Letters is such a song. It is beautifully sung, and starts quietly before driving guitars and that huge voice kick in for the chorus. From there it just builds and builds until those guitars really kick in and add a really epic quality to the song. Add to that the emotional intensity of the lyrics and you have the standout track on the album. I am completely in love with this song.
I think more as a reaction to the fact that is follows Letters as anything to do with the song itself, Reflections is slightly underwhelming. It's a good song, very well crafted and excellently sung but it just never quite gets me in the gut the way some of the others do possibly because it is quite one paced.
Walking on Water is the big power ballad that Reflections wants to be but it does the job better, A wonderful song which starts quietly and then builds to a huge crescendo for the chorus. A song to sing really loudly in the car (but a good idea to be alone unless you can hit those notes that Cardle hits so effortlessly!)
Slowly is another top class power ballad, lyrically clever and again a great sing along number. One criticism would be that putting these 3 big ballads together at the end of the album makes it lose a bit of momentum. Something with a bit more tempo between Walking on Water and Slowly (Sparks, Chemical?) would have made the end of the album a slightly more satisfying experience.
So overall what do I think? A fantastic first album of real quality with few low points and two or three real highs. I can't wait for the tour and album number 2.
The album art and lyrics booklet, complete with handwritten lyrics, show the intention of the label to position him as a singer songwriter, probably alongside the likes of James Morrison, rather than as a pop act, which is an interesting and potentially brave decision. In the long term it has to be the right choice because, frankly, Matt just doesn't have what it takes to be a bona fide pop star - he's probably too old, and definitely too grounded.
Anyway, on to the album itself, which starts with Starlight. This is a tremendously uplifting anthemic pop rock song with a drum beat that drives the song to the chorus, from which point Matt's huge voice kicks in and takes it even further. A great song and likely second single.
The second song is the first single, the Gary Barlow penned Run For Your Life. It's not a bad song, but it meanders along with not enough change of pace. The middle eight is great but it just takes too long to get there. I'll never understand the decision to make it a first single.
From there the album moves on to the soulful All For Nothing which is just beautiful. Matt's voice is a little rawer on this and the edge gives the song the desperation it needs. Just gorgeous!
The pace picks up with Pull Me Under which is a funky upbeat song about wanting to fall in love. It's a total change of direction for Matt and it works brilliantly and shows there is more to his voice than big choruses. Another good single choice.
When the song titles were first released I couldn't help wondering why anyone would call a song Amazing - I mean really? is it? and the simple answer is yes it is. Lyrically fantastic, a real tear jerker with an upbeat poppy sound. Certainly one of my favourite songs on the album and definitely the most easily accessible.
Tempo change again to Faithless, which is a ballad that builds from soft and gentle to quite a big sound by the end when the strings kick in . A sad song (is there a theme here?) about the impact of infidelity - I absolutely love this song; lyrically gorgeous and incredibly emotional. I could listen to it all day.
Beat of a Breaking Heart is a very stripped back, almost classical piece about heartbreak (obviously!) it's so raw that it makes me feel like I am intruding on someone's emotional breakdown and I find it quite uncomfortable to listen to. The fact that it can have that effect on the listener is a testament to it's power I guess - but it's a bit much for me.
The pace changes again with Stars and Lovers, the most obviously pop song and the one that drags you in on first listen. Sure to be a favourite live, though it lacks the depth of some of the other songs on the album. A great feel good track though - and I needed it after Beat of a Breaking Heart.
Very occasionally a song comes along that is completely perfect. Like a whole album experience in 4 minutes and Letters is such a song. It is beautifully sung, and starts quietly before driving guitars and that huge voice kick in for the chorus. From there it just builds and builds until those guitars really kick in and add a really epic quality to the song. Add to that the emotional intensity of the lyrics and you have the standout track on the album. I am completely in love with this song.
I think more as a reaction to the fact that is follows Letters as anything to do with the song itself, Reflections is slightly underwhelming. It's a good song, very well crafted and excellently sung but it just never quite gets me in the gut the way some of the others do possibly because it is quite one paced.
Walking on Water is the big power ballad that Reflections wants to be but it does the job better, A wonderful song which starts quietly and then builds to a huge crescendo for the chorus. A song to sing really loudly in the car (but a good idea to be alone unless you can hit those notes that Cardle hits so effortlessly!)
Slowly is another top class power ballad, lyrically clever and again a great sing along number. One criticism would be that putting these 3 big ballads together at the end of the album makes it lose a bit of momentum. Something with a bit more tempo between Walking on Water and Slowly (Sparks, Chemical?) would have made the end of the album a slightly more satisfying experience.
So overall what do I think? A fantastic first album of real quality with few low points and two or three real highs. I can't wait for the tour and album number 2.
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