Produced by Dana Masters pianist Cian Boylan with a voice that sits well with Empire legend big Ken Haddock, bit of a wow moment here for anyone into bluesily soulful accessible male singer-songwriter vocals from Belfast. Here’s Matt Benson who hails from Rostrevor near Newry, County Down. If you are the sort of person who finds a singer you have never heard of live in the flesh in some great bar somewhere like organic, no hype, no stupid PR generated buzz, as a preference just an obviously strong communicator who makes people feel alive even on a record then like Haddock Benson’s for you.
I was won over – a cheap date admittedly who goes on instinct primarily for my new music – by the first notes of the first song and the spell isn’t broken now listening in real time to the third track ‘Broken Masterpiece’ and all the way through. You can hear the words, they are literate, not pretentious, tell a story. He’s an observer, a romantic. It’s not slushy. The singing persona is no nonsense.
‘I’ve been sleeping with your sister and your mama knew’
So who is Benson? Around gigging since 2010 he studied jazz – and you can tell he knows his onions in this regard – at Trinity College of Music in London, now Trinity Laban, and has been a member of deep voiced pop star George ‘Green Green Grass‘ Ezra’s band. He’s a trombone player too, a fact referred to on ‘The Way It Should Be’ which has a New Orleans blues feel to it, the sort of thing Madeleine Peyroux and Arthur Lea do so well in a Dr John vein, and plays piano. ‘Nancy and the Soldier’ is Randy Newman-like and Benson acknowledges his Newman influence. Hush hush but it’s also a Christmas song in passing, a few yule references snuck in there but so ingeniously that you don’t want to stick fingers in your ears, go ”nurse, the screen,” or run off to become a Trappist monk and take the rule of St Benedict. As any yule will know it’s too early to talk about matters at all tinselly.
‘When you’re feeling down won’t you have a little talk with yourself? As if you were your own best friend’ – Matt Benson from ‘Sit Back Down Again’
The album was recorded at Boylan’s studio Camden in Dublin. Boylan is also known for his work with Linley Hamilton and fine Caro Emerald-esque jazz singer Katharine Timoney. The title song ‘Sit Back Down Again’ is a gem of a tribute to Benson’s late sister Catherine, the Kathy in the song, the way he inflects “come on” is a big win. Spend quality time with the singer today. You’ll regret it if you don’t. ‘‘Put your heavy burdens on the floor” – against the tramping ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ intimations of glory, glory hallelujah in the quietly mournful rhythmically drummed melodic comping set against the preacher ”Long Wave radio” reflections of ‘Glory’ a big stand out track found in the outro – is like a sub title for this hit-the-bull’s-eye thing of a record.
- Benson plays Belfast venue the Duncairn on 19 September, Dublin upstairs in Whelan’s on the 20th and the Kasbah, Limerick on the 28th.
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