Scott Matthews is an artist always insistent on perfecting the inimitable subtleties of his role as a singer-song writer. Yet the on stage humbleness certainly doesn’t betray the emotional depth of his third album, What The Night Delivers, which delves deeper than ever before. This intimacy is synonymous with his stage presence: summoning the audience forward into the night with his powerful whispers.
With three eclectic albums under his belt, Matthews crafted a diverse live set; cherry-picking the sweetest sensations and most haunting musings from his vast selection. “Bad Apple” seems to stumble and stray down a dusty country road as Matthews taps into those niggling feelings inside all of us when he ponders over being “Stagnant with infested regret/ No longer a taste to pursue”. A set of distinctions, he contrasts this fleeting, jumpy nostalgia with the lulling melancholy “Echoes Of The Lonely”. Slowing the tempo to a delicate pace and moving synonymously with easy and haunting harmonies, Matthews’ poignant recollections slow down time itself. “Copious amount of…” he mutters, before letting his sentiments truly express themselves and painfully forcing out “…sadness”.
Matthews, for his humbleness, deliciously toys with his audience, drawing on the appropriate means: “Is South Yorkshire any good then? Do we like them?”. A question met with roars laughter, as if reflecting with an old friend on familiar subjects.
For a performance space filled with swathes of swaying fans, there was no denying Scott Matthews’ ability to create intimacy with so many. For an artist most famous for his beautifully minimalist “Elusive”, with its sweet languor soothing the audience in the encore, there was certainly no hiding this man’s touching and dreamlike vocal talent and the vast brilliancies of What The Night Delivers.
deliciously toys with the audience?! delicate pace? is this a review of an episode of masterchef or nigella bites?!?!
a dusty country “rode”? I assume you mean road?