Northampton has never really been renowned as a hot bed for new musical talent but off late something seems to be stirring under the clouds of the Carlsberg brewery. Bands such as TANAOU, My First Tooth and now Matthew King have started to carve out quite a wonderful folk scene in a town only really famed for its shoe making. I went to see Mr King two weeks back, unfortunately due to the all too usual ‘last train home’ scenario I didn’t get to witness a single song. A real shame, because on my way out I was given a copy of this EP by the generous man himself (a nice touch). I’d heard good things so I made the effort to transfer it to my CD-less notebook laptop, and ever since I’ve struggled to stop listening to it. The EP was recorded in two days over the space off one night. Purists would question the type of quality this ‘speedy’ recording would have but, let me assure you it’s really very impressive. A full band recording this collection of songs flirts with the same sort of country, folk territory that M.Ward has covered so well, but as you should expect it has its own very British feel to it. An impressive feat for a style of music that owes so much to the states. How Matthew manages to do this, keeping the music grounded in this new Northampton scene whilst still appealing to the Bright Eyes generation is a great skill to behold. This is not just a compliment to him, but the scene that I’m sure he will help spearhead to greater audiences. And with the sort of songs on offer here, crafted with wonderful lyrics and enough ‘rock’ to keep the kids happy it shouldn’t take long. Coming to a Broadsheet music pullout near you soon.
Score: 7.3/10
Stand out track: Can't define the word cool
Genre: Alt Folk, Alt Country
For Fans Of: M. Ward, Micah P. Hinson, Bright Eyes
Links to music:
Download:
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/iammatthewking
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