MATTHEW E. WHITE
Leaf Tea Shop
1st July 2013
I love Matthew E White. If you’re looking for any objectivity or
impartiality then I’m afraid you won’t find it here. Since its UK release in
January this year, White’s debut Big Inner has founds it way to the top
of my own, and the Bido office’s CD Pile with no sign of falling.
One of the finest qualities of Big Inner, and what makes it an
instant Americana Masterpiece are those moments of restraint. These delicate,
diminutive songs sprout little wings and float away, gently nudging towards
those moments of bliss that they quietly assure you they are capable of. It is
one of the most intimate and most captivating listens of the year so far, reaching
deserved levels of acclaim both sides of the Atlantic. What’s strange then, is
that tonight’s best moments come when White and the band are their most
unhinged. Opener Will You Love Me is leveled by a clatter of drums,
whilst One Of These Days sees White step two paces back from the mic and
yell ‘You give me joy like a fountain deep inside of my soul’ with the most
stunning upper register. For those who have spent the last six months captivated
by White’s hushed whisper, this is comparable to watching Enya do pig squeals. It
really is very moving though, like watching your favorite, stone-faced movie protagonists
break down in an unexpected display of human emotion; bewildering, unimaginable,
yet reassuringly human. Big Love is turned into a sprawling, psych-rock
epic, with gliassando’d piano, power-stance inducing guitar solos and mountains
of drum fills culminating in a ludicrous display of rock and roll indulgence. It’s
impossible not to get lost in it, though, and witnessing these songs performed
with such urgency and such flair is enough to make you reassess everything you
thought you knew about the album. Melancholy is for idiots, and there is no
sign of it tonight.
Following a cover of Randy Newman’s Sail Away, White warmly
introduces his increasingly cramped looking five-piece band. This plethora of
gifted musicians are all, as he describes animatedly, a product of a
ten-year-old musical community in his home state of Virginia, the results of
which culminating in his debut album. And throughout the evening, as the bass
player closes his eyes, as the drummers share a smile, as the keyboard player quietly
sings all the lyrics, its clear that whilst it may be Whites name on the front,
this is far from a solo album. These are their songs, built upon a decade of
love and appreciation for each other and for the music they are creating. This
is what makes tonight’s performance so special. There is a telepathy running
deep beneath each symbol crash, every pull back and sudden crescendo. It feels
as if we are watching them jam in their living room, but we’re not intruding,
we have been invited and welcomed like old friends.
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