Just recently, another highly acclaimed album by SCOTT MATTHEW titled UNLEARNED was released, and now SCOTT MATTHEW is going on tour.
The TOUR DATES are as follows:
07.11.2013: Baienfurt - Hoftheater
11.11.2013: Munich - Kammerspiele
12.11.2013: Berlin - Heimathafen - Neukölln
26.11.2013: Frankfurt - Mousonturm
27.11.2013: Cologne - Kulturkirche
28.11.2013: Duisburg - Grammatikoff
07.12.2013: Aachen - Musikbunker
08.12.2013: Hamburg - Kampnagel
11.12.2013: Stuttgart - Theaterhaus
13.12.2013: Würzburg - Cafe Cairo
14.12.2013: Dresden - Bärenzwinger
15.12.2013: Leipzig - UT Connewitz
Band: SCOTT MATTHEW
Album: UNLEARNED
Release Date: 28.06.2013
Label/Distribution: Glitterhouse / Indigo
Band Website: www.scottmatthewmusic.com/
At first glance, it may seem surprising that such a gifted song poet as the New Yorker by choice presents a song cycle exclusively composed of works by other authors on his new studio album, as Scott Matthew has earned the utmost respect among critics and fans alike with his previous three solo albums since his self-titled debut in 2008, particularly as a songwriter whose highly emotional songs stand out singularly from the crowd.
"Lay down your knowledge, the learned, so that you can take in things anew and without prejudice," is the approximate translation of the preface. Unlearned describes in its title the initial state, the only possible one that such a project, like this collection of 14 songs from other people's pens, must precede. However, from the very first note of the new album, it becomes clear that these cover versions are no longer foreign songs but rather wholly original material. "Unlearn," "Forget what you know"... each song is a blank sheet of paper that Scott transforms into a new symphony of sounds, imagination, and emotion. Sure, the notes remain, the lyrics too, but beyond that, there is only pure Scott Matthew. The visionary power and sensitivity that Scott Matthew displays is fascinating. Thus, from the originally relatively trivial R&B smash of Whitney Houston's 1987 hit, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," a wonderful, piano-dominated ballad emerges; indeed, more than that: Scott's version is a perfectly crafted monument of sound embodying longing.
Or the incredibly soulful rendition of Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through The Night" with Scott's father Ian Matthew as a congenial duet partner. To list the highlights of the album would mean doing an injustice to the songs not explicitly mentioned. Nevertheless, two tracks should be particularly noted: the wonderfully airy "Smile," originally by Nat King Cole and penned by Charlie Chaplin (!), featuring Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy) lending his voice for a duet, as well as the spine-tingling version of the arguably un-coverable "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Joy Division), to which Scott Matthew adds a completely new, fascinatingly touching facet through its gently melancholic arrangement and deceleration, solely carried by his voice, the emotive piano playing of Marisol Limon Martinez, and Eugene Lemcio's bass.
It is a fascination that Scott seems capable of recognizing and working out the emotional core in the most diverse songs, always very seriously and respectfully, as would likely never have been recognized even by the seasoned listener in the original.
"I interpreted these songs as I felt them. I don't want to take credit for these songs existing, but I felt a strong need to show what they made me feel. To elaborate on the lyrics, the intention. To try and show MY truth of the song. It came very naturally to me. Some are more drastic changes than others. Some didn't need a 'makeover'; I just wanted to sing them." (Scott Matthew)
But it is not "only" Scott's voice that allows these songs of such different origins on Unlearned to grow together into a cohesive cycle. Recorded at Saltlands Studio in Brooklyn, NY, heartfelt, spacious arrangements were created, played with fantastic musicians like M. Eugene Lemcio, Clara Kennedy, Spencer Cobrin, Marisol Limon Martinez, or the Portuguese accordionist Celina da Piedade, but especially with the excellent guitarist Jürgen Stark, a new face in the musical family around Scott Matthew.
14 songs, originally by Radiohead to Rod Stewart, from the Bee Gees to The Jesus And Mary Chain, from Neil Young to Roberta Flack. Each individual song holds significance for Scott Matthew; each represents something important in his life: "My parents, my childhood, my emerging self in adolescence, my rediscovery of what is a great song in adulthood. In a way, I have harnessed my life’s timeline and condensed it into a series of cover songs. The discovery as a child that I was not alone in longing. That songs are solace, friends. These songs have been my friends, and with my dearest friends who helped me make this album, we gently ask you to remove preconceptions and UNLEARN your perception about a song, an artist, a genre. I have set out to find my true essence of these songs. A process of filtering them through myself and moments in my life. They have been UNLEARNED. I could go on, but I won’t. Please Enjoy. Love, Scott"
The TOUR DATES are as follows:
07.11.2013: Baienfurt - Hoftheater
11.11.2013: Munich - Kammerspiele
12.11.2013: Berlin - Heimathafen - Neukölln
26.11.2013: Frankfurt - Mousonturm
27.11.2013: Cologne - Kulturkirche
28.11.2013: Duisburg - Grammatikoff
07.12.2013: Aachen - Musikbunker
08.12.2013: Hamburg - Kampnagel
11.12.2013: Stuttgart - Theaterhaus
13.12.2013: Würzburg - Cafe Cairo
14.12.2013: Dresden - Bärenzwinger
15.12.2013: Leipzig - UT Connewitz
Band: SCOTT MATTHEW
Album: UNLEARNED
Release Date: 28.06.2013
Label/Distribution: Glitterhouse / Indigo
Band Website: www.scottmatthewmusic.com/
At first glance, it may seem surprising that such a gifted song poet as the New Yorker by choice presents a song cycle exclusively composed of works by other authors on his new studio album, as Scott Matthew has earned the utmost respect among critics and fans alike with his previous three solo albums since his self-titled debut in 2008, particularly as a songwriter whose highly emotional songs stand out singularly from the crowd.
"Lay down your knowledge, the learned, so that you can take in things anew and without prejudice," is the approximate translation of the preface. Unlearned describes in its title the initial state, the only possible one that such a project, like this collection of 14 songs from other people's pens, must precede. However, from the very first note of the new album, it becomes clear that these cover versions are no longer foreign songs but rather wholly original material. "Unlearn," "Forget what you know"... each song is a blank sheet of paper that Scott transforms into a new symphony of sounds, imagination, and emotion. Sure, the notes remain, the lyrics too, but beyond that, there is only pure Scott Matthew. The visionary power and sensitivity that Scott Matthew displays is fascinating. Thus, from the originally relatively trivial R&B smash of Whitney Houston's 1987 hit, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," a wonderful, piano-dominated ballad emerges; indeed, more than that: Scott's version is a perfectly crafted monument of sound embodying longing.
Or the incredibly soulful rendition of Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through The Night" with Scott's father Ian Matthew as a congenial duet partner. To list the highlights of the album would mean doing an injustice to the songs not explicitly mentioned. Nevertheless, two tracks should be particularly noted: the wonderfully airy "Smile," originally by Nat King Cole and penned by Charlie Chaplin (!), featuring Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy) lending his voice for a duet, as well as the spine-tingling version of the arguably un-coverable "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Joy Division), to which Scott Matthew adds a completely new, fascinatingly touching facet through its gently melancholic arrangement and deceleration, solely carried by his voice, the emotive piano playing of Marisol Limon Martinez, and Eugene Lemcio's bass.
It is a fascination that Scott seems capable of recognizing and working out the emotional core in the most diverse songs, always very seriously and respectfully, as would likely never have been recognized even by the seasoned listener in the original.
"I interpreted these songs as I felt them. I don't want to take credit for these songs existing, but I felt a strong need to show what they made me feel. To elaborate on the lyrics, the intention. To try and show MY truth of the song. It came very naturally to me. Some are more drastic changes than others. Some didn't need a 'makeover'; I just wanted to sing them." (Scott Matthew)
But it is not "only" Scott's voice that allows these songs of such different origins on Unlearned to grow together into a cohesive cycle. Recorded at Saltlands Studio in Brooklyn, NY, heartfelt, spacious arrangements were created, played with fantastic musicians like M. Eugene Lemcio, Clara Kennedy, Spencer Cobrin, Marisol Limon Martinez, or the Portuguese accordionist Celina da Piedade, but especially with the excellent guitarist Jürgen Stark, a new face in the musical family around Scott Matthew.
14 songs, originally by Radiohead to Rod Stewart, from the Bee Gees to The Jesus And Mary Chain, from Neil Young to Roberta Flack. Each individual song holds significance for Scott Matthew; each represents something important in his life: "My parents, my childhood, my emerging self in adolescence, my rediscovery of what is a great song in adulthood. In a way, I have harnessed my life’s timeline and condensed it into a series of cover songs. The discovery as a child that I was not alone in longing. That songs are solace, friends. These songs have been my friends, and with my dearest friends who helped me make this album, we gently ask you to remove preconceptions and UNLEARN your perception about a song, an artist, a genre. I have set out to find my true essence of these songs. A process of filtering them through myself and moments in my life. They have been UNLEARNED. I could go on, but I won’t. Please Enjoy. Love, Scott"
