This tall 32 year old from Virginia, USA looks like he should be chopping wood rather than playing rock music. His long brown locks and bushy beard should not fool you, as in reality he is a musical maverick. Matthew is the founder of Spacebomb Records, a label and studio with a house band that is based around the traditional mould that made Stax, Studio One and Motown Records so great. Their first album release was Matthew’s debut, Big Inner, which catapulted Spacebomb into the limelight and made him one of the most acclaimed newcomers to arrive in 2012. I don’t think anyone saw it coming, but his unique take on extremely well-crafted soulful music marked down as an instant classic by everyone. On his second album, Fresh Blood, Matthew wanted to use much of the same credentials as his previous, not wanting the sound to be different but just for it to be better.

 
‘Take Care My Baby’ continues the familiar soul grooves and beautiful production making this love song sound as if you have just started the bonus CD of Big Inner. ‘Rock & Roll Is Cold’ is the first single off the album and definitely the most radio-friendly song. Its clever playful lyrics are held together by a rolling 12-bar piano, make it extremely catchy and one of my favourites. A rather immediate and cluttered start to ‘Fruit Trees’ is taken down tempo as Mathew’s deep voice and a lush strings gives it a seductive and sensual feel, but things get a little more serious for the chorus and coda where the horns section take over and make it a more dramatic affair. ‘Holy Moly’ builds with rage into an exasperated coda. Emotive lyrics, “What’s wrong with you?”, questions the church’s constant contradicting ways – as does the downbeat ‘Circle ‘Round The Sun’’, which has a cleverly constructed tune around the lyrics.
 
‘Feeling Good Is Good Enough’ tells the story of a couple rekindling their relationship. It has a sing along quality to it, erupting in jubilation with a ‘Hey Jude’ esque la-la-la-la-la on the ending coda. A mysterious cinematic feel comes across in ‘Tranquiliy’, changing tone midway through the track. Matthew gives an eloquent meaning to this tribute to Phillip Seymour Hoffmann on his Tumblr. In ‘Golden Robes’, Matthew’s soft whispering voice prevails in a sleepy soul ballad that is reminiscent to Lee Fields or Curtis Mayfield’s more mellow tracks, as does the penultimate track, ‘Vision’, which has ELO’s uplifting strings accompanying it. The layers of horns, guitar and strings in the closing track, ‘Love Is Deep’, tells of a hopeless reflection on love and lust that can end without a forewarning, as does the song.
 
Fresh Blood starts with a love song, and then finishes questioning love itself. It continued in the same vain as Big Inner – being soulful, full of lush instrumentation, lots of little added sounds that complete a song, and brilliant fitting lyrics. Is Fresh Blood better than Big Inner? If it was released before his debut, it would have probably produced the exact same reaction due to Matthew’s refreshing sound and his knack for putting together an outstanding song assemble. I would say it is not better, but just as great.
Iain Lauder