Scott Matthews was in town to promote his eighth studio offering, Restless Lullabies...
"If anyone can guess what’s in my flask – there’s a free CD for you at the merch stand afterwards. I’ll give you a clue – it’s a bit naughty!" quipped Matthews a couple of songs into a superb two-hour set. And despite enthusiastic shouts of everything from Bovril to absinthe, the mystery of the contents of the Wolverhampton singer-songwriter’s receptacle (pilfered that morning from his five-year-old son) was never revealed – but then, there’s always been a bit of mystery about this highly-skilled musician.
Performing in front of a bank of acoustic and electric guitars, Matthews was in town to promote his eighth studio offering, Restless Lullabies, and the 47-year-old peppered his set with numbers from it spliced with offerings panning the gamut of his near twenty-year career.
On the warmest evening of the year so far, it seemed wholly appropriate Matthews’ authentic, yet quintessentially English take on the contemplative blues music of the Deep South took place in this hazy basement venue.
Thankfully, pleasantly flooded with AC, no one was hankering for a cold compress at this smashing addition to the Nottingham live scene and it was just Matthews’ virtuoso guitar playing, coupled with his tender and wistful lyrics, which were soaked up.
A charming rendition of Sunlight was beautifully followed by material from his latest offering - The Light, Anniversary and My Selfless Moon – all recorded during lockdown where Matthews sought a more stripped back approach following what he tagged his "Brian Eno phase."
Interspersing guitar changes with tune-ups, the addition of dexterous percussionist Keith Allen ("all the way from Japan") and clever, yet subtle pedal work – Matthews’ easy-going bonhomie and wry anecdotes combined to make a thoroughly lovely evening of folk-blues entertainment. Decamping to the audience late in the set, Matthews invited us to hum the outro of the yearning Home and Dry ("Paris were great – no pressure!") - thankfully the good folk of Nottingham didn’t let him down.
Returning for an encore ("I was going to go off stage but I couldn’t find the key card for my dressing room!"), the West Midlander finished by rolling back the years to 2007 - sixteen years to the day his breakthrough single, Elusive, won an Ivor Novello - with a brilliant rendition of the track, which brought him mainstream acclaim.
Evoking Tom Yorke, Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright, Matthews’ voice is a joy and, coupled with his seemingly effortless guitar playing and plaintive lyrics, it’s bemusing that he’s not on the radar of more people. He was certainly rapturously received here – even if we never did find out what his tipple of choice was.
Scott Matthews performed at Metronome on 24 May 2023
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