Matt Dolphin - Eighth House
by Helen Tipping
published: 9 / 10 / 2012
Label:
Blang Records
Format: CD
intro
Melancholic, but promising debut solo album from Kent-based singer-songwriter, Matt Dolphin
Matt Dolphin, ex Sergeant Buzfuz, is releasing his first solo album this October, following a mini album, 'Turning Soil', last year. Based in Kent, and mainly playing in the South East, Matt continues in the current trend for singer-songwriters, but with a darker undertone to his songs. He’s certainly in love with words and puts them to good use, with lyrics that aren’t always about what you think they are, or at the very least give you the opportunity to read into them what you will. 'Black Psalm' could be a dark love song, or it could be about the “End Days”, the running out of oil. 'Wormwood' is definitely a song about drinking away your sorrows and. although a bit too jazzy for me, the sound worked for the subject matter. I liked the stripped down sound of 'Patterns and Demons' and the simplicity of the singing. The real stand out song was 'Deptford Shore', which has already been released as a single for download. It is wistful and sad, a song for the end of summer, even if it is based in Deptford, an area I know quite well, I’m sure that the good folk of Deptford can share in the melancholy many of us feel at the end of summer, or of a relationship, and the tinge of regret at the start of autumn So I found the album to be a mix of songs I liked, and some I would probably skip through, but that’s true of any album, even by some of my favourite artists. I would probably make the effort to go and see him play and think that he’s one to keep an eye on – he may be Kent’s answer to Richard Hawley!
Track Listing:-
1 Barbary Slave2 Black Psalm
3 Dirty Mash
4 Grace of the Winds
5 Wormwood
6 Patterns and Demons
7 Useless Eater
8 Deptford Shore
Band Links:-
https://www.facebook.com/mattdolphinmusic/https://myspace.com/mattdolphinmusic
Label Links:-
http://www.blang.co.uk/https://twitter.com/blangrecords
soundcloud
most viewed articles
current edition
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #15- On Being Dignified and Old aka Ten Tips From Jah Wobble On How To Be Happy.Dennis Tufano - Copernicus Center, Chicago, 19/7/2024
Elliott Murphy - Interview
Wreckless Eric - Interview
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #16: Living in the Minds of Strangers
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #17: Tom Robinson
Adrian Gurvitz - Interview
Norman Rodger - Interview
Chris Spedding - Interview
Penumbra - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Groovy Uncle - Making ExcusesPhilip Parfitt - The Dark Light
Jules Winchester - The Journey
Deep Purple - =1
Bill Wyman - Drive My Car
Ross Couper Band - The Homeroad
Hawkestrel - Chaos Rocks
John Murry and Michael Timmins - A Little Bit of Grace and Decay
Popstar - Obscene
Splashgirl and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe - More Human
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart