This is the full debut release from a singer-songwriter who hails from Saskatoon in Saskatchewan, Canada. Matty Powell was discovered singing in the bars of Toronto and has recorded these thirteen songs with some very experienced and talented musicians from the local music scene. The playing is very laid back and stripped down, with lots of nice vocal harmonies.
The Creek opens the CD with a pleasant lilting melody and is followed by a song to his daughter Freja, which is both touching and thoughtful with some very tasteful guitar playing from Mike Daley.
Any Other Way is a plea for peace and an escape from the rampant greed of the powerful few over the vulnerable “while we take and take, eating from someone else’s plate”.
Yellowquill is written about a Native Indian Reserve formed by a treaty that was signed in 1876 and is a strong example of the mature song-writing craft that Matty Powell brings to the songs featured here. Still Love You is a heartfelt communique to a lover who is not quite on the same page as the writer where “every fight had its’ story...”
Toronto features some fine guitar playing from Ron Tomasson and is a song that charts a failed love affair with the city; “doomed from the start with all your bright lights and my big heart”.
On the title track, which closes the CD, there is a lament for a relationship that has not worked out with the song lyric asking that the partner perhaps stay. Again, the song arrangement is full of bright playing with plenty of space.
Matty Powell has lived in Nicaragua as part of his travels and the acoustic campfire feel on many of these songs draws from his experiences on the road.
A striking debut and an enjoyable listen.