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.