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I love this album! I bought it on a few recommendations, and it has become one of my favorites. Matthew Jay is a very talented singer/songwriter, and the production of the album is amazing.
The overall feel of the album is very similar to Duncan Sheik's first album. It has the same acoustic foundation and adds layers of music to create a complex yet still quiet and relaxing sound. Besides Sheik, there is also a hint of Nick Drake and even Paul McCartney on some songs (some of the songs sound like McCartney's writing from the mid seventies).
If you like any of the above artists, you will absolutely like this album.
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This is not a bad album, however I just don't think it's that good either. Is it better than most mainstream pop you hear on the radio? Of course. Would I recommend it? Only if you listen to mainstream pop.
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It's not so unlikely, is it? A talented kid from South Wales shifts from smashing heads on the football field to writing sensitive songs about life, death, loss and love. Such is the story of Matthew Jay, whose debut album, "Draw," could mellow out any linebacker out there.
Jay's acoustic thumbing and electric ripples create a sound that hovers between the likes of Nick Drake and Coldplay. Weighty words surf on his swift, streamlined beats and wispy melodies. Jay's voice is shy and soft-spoken, hitting each note with robotic precision- almost unfit for the passionate themes of his songs.
But perhaps this wallflower subtlety is what makes the rest of "Draw" so intriguing. Despite his distant whisper, Jay's words are remarkably startling and clever. "You licked the tears right off my face," he chants in the kickoff song, "Let Your Shoulder Fall," while spewing sunshine harmonies and a swiveling beat. Jay's melodic groove continues in the steady "Meteorology," and "You're Always Going Too Soon," a dazed, jittery verse that sounds as lonely as its title.
Throughout "Draw's" cloudy overtones, Jay maintains a paper-cut edge that's lyrically bittersweet. His best work comes from the more experimental tracks: the instrumental "Molasses" is eerie and pushy, "The Clearing" is refreshingly jumpy, and "Please Don't Send Me Away," tackles the theme of "a bloke trying to get into heaven." These would make great blueprints for Jay's future endeavors.
At first listen, "Draw" may seem a bit backgroundish and lost in space. Jay's fading voice often drifts so much that one may wonder if he's left the studio, maybe to take a bath in his own introspectiveness. But whenever the listener hears Jay wander off, he ought to move quickly to catch up. After a few spins, "Draw" becomes wistful, fluid, and surprisingly addictive.
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It's easy to draw comparisons here...but let's just leave that alone. This Debut is a truly great start, and i always hate to predict but i think Matt's here to stay. Well crafted, simple and melodic songs! Thank goodness we're finally ridding ourselves of Nirvana-esque, over-rated, record company produced bands!!!! I honestly was ready to jump off a cliff with that music that has haunted us for too many years... truthfully I'd rather be haunted by talent such as this! Finally, decent songwriting is once again showing its face...and wait a min'...he can sing too! The cover shot reminds me of a young Georgie Harrison!!(Mmmmm!)
BUY IT!
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BEFORE the Brit music public shifted its emphasis to unassuming, rainy-day-type artistes like Travis and Coldplay, there was hardly a chance for a curious crowd of obscure musicians to make an impact. But it's raining delicate men now and it has always been the well-hidden ones that made the best finds. Last year, a certain scruffy Damon Gough turned up in the charts and overshadowed most of his contemporaries while un-heralded David Gray gave the Brit singer-songwriter mould a future with a smile. Scottish duo Mull Historical Society look the part as this year's precious find, but it's Welsh singer-songwriter Matthew Jay which is the sort of solo musician to lay claim as a modern-day Nick Drake-meets-John Fahey. It always sounds like a curse to be compared to such hallowed names, but 22-year-old Jay is bound to make a good showing before the year is out. The man's debut Draw has all the hallmarks of a low-key classic, paying attention to emotive turns while stringing together fragmented romantic notions to sum up a highly tuneful album. After all, Jay's music is far from the usual mumbling lo-fi. Instead, it has a sweet edge, packed with new-found optimism and stems from a reverential Lennon-McCartney category. There are revealingly earnest compositions that seem to grow larger and wider with a strikingly self-assured momentum. The caustic opener Four Minute Rebellion speaks its mind with such unpretentious conviction. This lad could make the most clichéd chord sound beautiful and the simplest ones seem special, too. It's really unexplainable how understated numbers like Let Your Shoulder Fall and Please Don't Send Me Away sound as if they were freshly written just before the recordings, but still coming up roses. The haunting na-ture and supple soul of Jay's work is most appealing. He hardly breaks a sweat when writing accessible and melancholy-based numbers about re-demption (A World Away), rekindling a lost teenage dream (You're Always Going Too Soon), walking away (Remember This Feeling) or recalling a divorce scene (Meteorology). These are warm-hearted tunes which are meant to be savoured in quiet, contemplative time and light. The entire album has a strong reflective accent, sometimes gutsy but always gliding through light-weight buoyancy and seemingly set to grow in stature. There is no question that Matthew Jay deserves a further push up the mainstream
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