“I’ve taken some chances,” sighs Matt Andersen on his opening lyrics, from the title song to his latest album release, “The Hammer & The Rose.” On this eleventh studio album from the tireless songwriter – officially released today – Andersen takes a chance, and the attention required, to explore the depths of soulful contemplation.
If you are still rocking in your boots from Andersen’s 2023 “The Big Bottle of Joy” album, and its subsequent powerful tour, “The Hammer & The Rose” slows down the pace, giving both fans and new listeners a chance to marvel at Andersen’s prodigious skill as a nuanced and delicate master of fine strokes and muted tones. If his intention is to take you to the heart of the matter, then these ten songs, of which three are already circulating the airwaves, reach their mark with perfect and sublime accuracy.
With the title track, Andersen foreshadows the mood and deep reflections that the song sequence will follow. “Longer I listen, the less that I learn / Seems the further I go, the more bridges I burn / The harder I try, the harder it gets / I go on looking, but I still haven’t found you yet.” In his emotionally vibrant questioning, Matt resonances a search that many a gifted songwriter has attempted to communicate. What is this love that keep us yearning with an unquenchable fire?
Those familiar with Andersen’s formidable blues infused vocals and complex guitar wizardry will be suitably beguiled by the soothing timbre Matt employs to convey the deeply sensitive and tender subject matter that these tunes traverse. Purposely laid back, silky and often sensual, the songs, with titles like “Hold on to Me,” “Stay Home with You,” and “Tonight Belongs to You,” come at you like the slow soft talk between lovers at the end of long hard day’s work.
Surrounded by a preeminent group of musical talents, with producer and percussionist Joshua Van Tassel acting as musical director, Matt Andersen recorded “The Hammer & The Rose” in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. The album is defined by its distinct tonal characteristics underscoring heartfelt lyrics, giving the melodies a supple longing. The mood is intimate, soft lit and comforting. Christine Bougie on lap steel adds surprisingly subtle colour, textures and depth, shaping these reflective, somewhat introverted songs, into miniaturized gifts of art.
Above all this resides the beauty, soulful tenderness and incomparable gentleness of Matt’s singing. Affective throughout the album, Matt soars to new emotional gravitas on the final song “Always Be Your Son” – a profound song of love and fully realized lessons, given and hard learned, deep in the big man’s heart. Perhaps Matt has found “something” after all, on the long hard road that only a few brave souls strive to follow.
Photo Credit: Sonic Entertainment Group / EPK
Douglas McLean fell in love with music at a very early age and has worked as a musician and songwriter since his early teens. He has a deep love for the written word and has spent his life in pursuit of language as a means to convey what Van Morrison once called “the inarticulate speech of the heart”. He lives deep in the Almaguin Highlands with his wife and their dog. Douglas is active in local radio, recording, producing and writing, in and around Huntsville, Ontario.
His website is:
http://www.douglasmcleanmusic.com
