Matthew Edwards & The Unfortunates - "Folklore" (Gare du Nord Records)

Matthew Edwards & The Unfortunates - "Folklore"  (Gare du Nord Records)

Matthew Edwards, I think, is the son or nephew of David Bowie or/and Howard Devoto.   Just the opening song "Birmingham" alone can bring him to the world of champions.  A beautiful song with a gorgeous lyric.  A narrative of sorts, but more of a mysterious Alain Robbe-Grillet plot.  Devoto's Magazine comes to mind mostly due to that Edwards and his group The Unfortunates know an excellent orchestration.  They work as a unit and serve Edwards' vocals and songs.  My type of band.

"When We Arrived at the Mountain" has a Bowie era "Man Who Sold The World" vibe, but by no means is Edwards digging into another's world.  The music here is very much part of his DNA, and he's a great singer and lyricist.  Weary of the world around him, he's romantic, but one gets the feeling that the singer/narrator will get burned again.  It's an album of reflection, but very pop and there lies the beauty of "Folklore."

The playing on the album is very layered, and hearing the organ on "I can Move the Moon" is very Zombies-like in that it conveys a storm among the aural delights that are this song.  The electric organ on some of the songs drives me wild.  This is a very sophisticated world that Matthews is skipping into, which is a landscape of memories, some regret, but the eyes are going toward the future as well.   "Folklore" is easy to the ears, but the tunes will stick in one's head for a long while.  Ten songs that move from one end to the other with economy and taste as if  Marcel Proust made a rock record.    Noir-pop played excellently, and Edwards is going to take his band and music on another plane.  It's a remarkable album.  This and Perfume Genius are the only new music that I love at the moment.

Matthew Edwards and the Unfortunates' Vinyl album "The Fates"

Vinyl Album design by Rex Ray.  Limited edition of 300 copies

A nice surprise came through the mail the other day, an album by Matthew Edwards and the Unfortunates.  The LP is called 'The Fates" and its a collection of beautifully crafted pop pieces - almost baroque-like in its arrangements framed by Matthew Edwards' vocals.  He sings with the most intimate manner, almost whispering, but not. While listening to this album I think of late Zombies for some reason.  There is nothing retro about it, except its taste lies with the classics.  And anyone who names his band after the great British Novelist B.S. Johnson novel can't be possibly be a disappointment!  Nice production work by Eric Drew Feldman, who played with Captain Beefheart and Frank Black/Pixies - a man of great taste and skill.  Fred Frith adds tension on certain tracks.  An album to treasure.  Oh, and the album sleeve is beautifully designed by Rex Ray.  

Cd cover