The voice of David Bowie, the theatricality of Anthony Hegarty, that’s what we praise this music for.” – Rolling Stone
INFO
ARTIST
Scott Matthews
RELEASE DATE
20/04/2018
CATALOGUE NO.
GRCD/LP 939
TRACKLIST
END OF DAYS
THE DESERTER
WHERE I COME FROM
HAPPY END
DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT ME?
THE WISH
NOT JUST ANOTHER YEAR
CEASE AND DESIST
FLAME TREES
THE SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK
WATCH & LISTEN
Story
“It’s the first album I’ve written that’s not concerning romantic love. Even though there’s a sense of romance to it, but it’s not connected to my personal romantic love at all. It’s about people and places that aren’t concerning my immediate romantic pain”.
Scott Matthew laughs when he says this last sentence. He is laughing a lot in these days. It`s as if not only a weight has been lifted, but rather something new and beautiful in his life has also begun in his music. The pain may not have gone. But on Ode To Others it seems Scott has changed his point of view from the inside out.
None of his last five solo records of Scott Matthew is as diverse; as beautiful orchestrated and complex in arrangements as this one. Ode To Others, even more than the albums before, is the result of a collaborative work on songs. In particular Jürgen Stark, who had already played an important musical role on This Here Defeat not only as a guitarist but also as the main arranger and producer, has and producer on Ode To Others, he took on these roles even more Ode To Others; he also served as (co-)writer of the music for most of the songs. most of the songs. Scott wrote, with the exception of the three cover songs (Do you really want to hurt me?, Flame Trees, The Sidewalks of New York), the lyrics and basic musical framework of the songs. “But I wasn’t even sure I liked them myself at first – I didn’t know until Jürgen took them on and gave them personality and added all the wonderfully complex layers.”
He is, says Scott, very proud of the album. „I think it’s one of the best albums we’ve done so far, for a lot of reasons. The idea of minimalism wasn’t very prominent on this album. But it’s not bombastic to me. It’s still got intimacy, but also all this intricate layers. And in the end – all this history.”
One could consider the album Ode To Others to be a new musical beginning for Scott Matthew. But that is not quite the case. It is rather the result of a change of perspective. One who looks out into the world, both the present and the past, and discovers himself in a new way, as a loving, adoring, and sometimes critical observer.