Brand new album from Southend’s Matt Randall, his fourth for the Arlen label in his Plantman guise – following on from ‘To The Lighthouse’, ‘Closer To The Snow’ and the much-lauded ‘Whispering Trees’:
‘Making The Field Mice sound like Modest Mouse’ (The Guardian New Band of The Day)
‘Stands worthy of its forebears’ (4/5 Mojo)
‘English romanticism of the Nick Drake/Bill Fay school’ (7/10 Uncut)
‘Rich in melody…a less caustic Go-Betweens’ (Q)
In Matt’s very own words:
A couple of years back Andy at Arlen asked ‘When are you going to make your pop album?’; I started writing/recording this while Roy (Melodiegroup) was making his record, and we shared studio time and ideas, often just a note here or there, but definitely adding to the process, recognizing the common thread even though our records were heading in slightly contrasting directions. In my head, this was going to be my POP record but I’ve always written far more in winter months, when the melancholy tends to creep in. I allowed myself to be more nostalgic, honing in on distinct memories, and felt at ease in doing so.
I held the immediacy of Michael Head, Magnetic Fields and always Forster and McClennan as touchstones, used the input of Roy and Adam (Radmall) along with John Hannon to help pull it together, and left Amy to come up with more beautiful artwork, continuing the loose theme and identity of the previous Plantman releases.
‘Making The Field Mice sound like Modest Mouse’ (The Guardian New Band of The Day)
‘Stands worthy of its forebears’ (4/5 Mojo)
‘English romanticism of the Nick Drake/Bill Fay school’ (7/10 Uncut)
‘Rich in melody…a less caustic Go-Betweens’ (Q)
In Matt’s very own words:
A couple of years back Andy at Arlen asked ‘When are you going to make your pop album?’; I started writing/recording this while Roy (Melodiegroup) was making his record, and we shared studio time and ideas, often just a note here or there, but definitely adding to the process, recognizing the common thread even though our records were heading in slightly contrasting directions. In my head, this was going to be my POP record but I’ve always written far more in winter months, when the melancholy tends to creep in. I allowed myself to be more nostalgic, honing in on distinct memories, and felt at ease in doing so.
I held the immediacy of Michael Head, Magnetic Fields and always Forster and McClennan as touchstones, used the input of Roy and Adam (Radmall) along with John Hannon to help pull it together, and left Amy to come up with more beautiful artwork, continuing the loose theme and identity of the previous Plantman releases.
TRACK LISTING
1. My Sister & Her Books
2. Room Of Flies
3. Animal Homes
4. Oval Time
5. Cold Air And Smoke
6. Candidly
7. High Hopes
8. Days Of The Rocks
9. Viaduct
10. John Clare
11. The Tic
12. With The Human Race
13. Villa Las Malpas