Matthew E. White

This was his first ever gig in the UK, and for the uniformly bearded six-piece led by the biggest beard of them all, Matthew E. White, it must have been an eye-opener. Not only did the engaging White tell the story of his recent time in the USA, as a support act, and dealing with audiences who were largely there for the main attraction, but this gig had been upgraded from The Hope, and still was bursting to capacity. On the back of a small cult reputation, and some incredibly growing reviews in the UK press for his debut album ‘Big Inner’, many of the great and good of the Brighton music scene came to see what the fuss was all about. What they witnessed was a superb, technically excellent but musically adventurous band that fed off White’s sometimes quirky, but very strong song structures, that fuse elements of indie, americana and country-soul into a fresh sounding whole. White’s voice may lack the power to really convince in the live arena, but musically, it was a confirmation of all that people had been reading about…

Audio, 22 January 2013
Rating:
Jeff Hemmings