After touring and playing numerous festivals in support of Seven Years, Matt returned to the studio in 2018 to record the follow-up, Break, Rattle and Roll. Released to wide acclaim, it went one better than his previous release and was awarded Best Country Album in the 2019 Music Victoria Awards. This release found Matt employing more musicians outside his core band, which allowed him to produce arrangements which were even more complex. There are times, such as on opener Bridge over Concrete, when it is almost like a wall of sound with Matt’s vocals right in the middle. However, as with all his releases, Matt shows he has a clear understanding of the need for contrast so while there are some songs where there is no room for another note, there are others which are far lighter with plenty of space and fewer musicians involved. He again utilises some delicate female vocals in some places, while the harmonica is also an important foil. He has an innate sense of melody, and all the songs are instantly enjoyable on the first hearing, only improving the more the album is played.

He hit the ground running with his debut, released some 9 years before this, and since then has continued to make his presence felt with releases which have shown a definite progression. His style has not change dramatically, but rather it has become more refined as he understands more of what it is he wants to achieve, and finesses that. He is more confident in his vocals, allowing himself to hold long notes, while also bringing in instruments one would not normally think of in this genre, such as delicate trumpet on Details. One could imagine Ransom being played in small country/jazz room somewhere with two organs and a delicately picked electric guitar messing about in the intro, with Matt singing over the top, before the rest of the band comes in and the song starts to build. It is one of those songs which is almost impossible to date, as it is modern, yet it could also have been released fifty years earlier, such is the style and arrangement.

One of the highlights is We Get Lost, which is delicate and refined, bringing us back down to reality, allowing us to enter the real world once again. Like many musicians, his career was brought to a shuddering halt due to Covid, especially as he came back to NZ while his band and studios were in Australia, but he is again back in Melbourne and his fourth album is due out later this year, I can’t wait.

• 1
  Head Like A Hole
• 2
  Horror Story
• 3
  Fraser Ross
• 4
  Fur Patrol
• 5
  Michelle Rounds
• 6
  L.A.B.
• 7
  Devilskin
• 8
  Coridian
• 9
  The Boondocks
• 10
  Late to Chelsea

• 
  LOST BiRD @ Space Academy, Christchurch - 15/12/2024
• 
  Just Janie @ Space Academy, Christchurch - 15/12/2024
• 
  Dream Chambers @ Meow Nui, Wellington - 14/12/2024
• 
  The Phoenix Foundation @ Meow Nui, Wellington - 14/12/2024

• 1
  APT.
  ROSÉ And Bruno Mars
• 2
  DIE WITH A SMILE
  Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars
• 3
  BIRDS OF A FEATHER
  Billie Eilish
• 4
  TASTE
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 5
  I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
  Gracie Abrams
• 6
  ESPRESSO
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 7
  SAILOR SONG
  Gigi Perez
• 8
  LOSE CONTROL
  Teddy Swims
• 9
  A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
  Shaboozey
• 10
  GOOD LUCK, BABE!
  Chappell Roan

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