The Matthew Show: Story in Song, Song in Story

Have you tuned in yet to the Texas-based art-pop collective the matthew show?  Their amazing new record, february, is out this morning.

Sardonic yet compassionate, this tuneful, idiosyncratic disc lands at the intersection of documentary and classic pop.  And that works for us.  Songwriter and producer Matthew Broyles, moved by the uncertain state of his and his friends’ lives, examines hope, regret, and fickle truth, leading lively interviews in pursuit of George Orwell’s “power of facing unpleasant facts.”

And that’s just cool.

What emerges is a deft portrait of five adults on the cusp of middle age, each asking, “Is this all there is?”  In reply, Broyles explores and exposes their lives in a patchwork of word and song. Calling on the support of a stellar cast, he cajoles and enlightens, crafting a vivid and jarringly universal portrayal of contemporary life.

Mastered by Arthur Winer at Canaveral Skies, february joins a Wampus Multimedia roster that includes new and imminent releases from tvfordogs, The Crowd Scene, Venus Flytrap, Kowtow Popof, and Arms of Kismet, as well as Hurry Home Early: the Songs of Warren Zevon, to which the matthew show contributed a version of Zevon’s “Mohammed’s Radio.”

Spin the free CD stream.

About Mark Doyon

I run Wampus, a creative development agency and label for emerging artists and authors. I make records as Arms of Kismet (and sometimes Waterslide), and wrote the book 'Bonneville Stories.'