Scott Matthews - Into The Firing Line [Single]

Island

July 22, 2009, 09:03 PM

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Scott Matthews made a sizeable dent in the already overcrowded 'sensitive singer-songwriter' scene in 2007 with the minor radio hit 'Elusive'. That songs hushed reverence, haunting melody and dense atmosphere could easily set you up for the hushed Bob Marley cover of 'Is This Love?' on this singles flip-side but the A side is a different beast altogether.

Many comparisons have been made between Scott Matthews and the late Jeff Buckley but here he comes across more like Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell on a good day. It's a faultless vocal performance from a singer more than capable of standing his own against the greats. 'Into the Firing Line' has a whip-crack beat and dense, moody atmosphere that isn't a million miles away from Buckleys own 'Nightmares By The Seaside'. The melody builds into a triumphant chorus with the tight, focused production really adding an extra depth to the song. A weeping string section backs everything with a soft, melancholic haze and the the desperate lyrics "What have you got to lose?" only add to the songs immediacy.

It's a great song but it's doesn't exactly scream "SINGLE". The chorus is effective but hardly catchy and taken on it's own terms and apart from the rest of the album it doesn't hold up quite so well. The B-Side provides us with the Scott Matthews that fans from his last album might have been missing from the A Side. As the press blurb states he really does transform the Bob Marley song 'Is This Love?' into a desolate, yearning thing of beauty.

All in all this single is a solid release that goes one step further towards proving what the Wolverhampton native has to offer. I commend you to check out the album 'Elsewhere' as it truly stands up as a beautifully complete body of work.

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