Scott Matthews at Lighthouse Poole

Scott Matthews at Lighthouse Poole

Scott Matthews’ ground-breaking debut album, Passing Stranger earned him serious critical acclaim with its bold mix of folk, rock, blues and Eastern-inspired song-writing, and in 2007 his first single ‘Elusive’ won the Ivor Novello Award for ‘Best Song Musically and Lyrically’. From here Scott went on to perform on a number of international sell-out tours with respected artists such as Rufus Wainwright, Foo Fighters, and Snow Patrol.

His follow-up albums saw, Robert Plant come onboard for a guest contribution on second album, Elsewhere, and legendary bassist Danny Thompson appearing on his third release What The Night Delivers.

Matthews’ latest album, Restless Lullabies, emerges with a stark boldness that is breath taking. These phoenix songs, born from New Skin, have more to give, worthy of reincarnation, entirely reimagined by Matthews who appears dauntless, they are restless with good reason.

Now entirely unadorned, stripped of their electronic veil, the album’s acoustic purity creates a subliminal listening experience. From the ethereal acapella, ‘Intruders on Earth’, to the evocative duet, ‘Anniversary’, where Matthews performs with American soul-jazz singer, Krystle Warren, the result being a vocal fusion that seems impossibly perfect. The skeletal delicacy of the songs allows his poetry to breathe, his transcendent vocal to soar, brings his dexterously sensitive guitar playing into microscopic focus and further cements his undeniable mastery as one of our greatest songsmiths.

Restless Lullabies is the Yin to New Skin’s Yang, so obviously interconnected and yet somehow possessing an entirely different force. Here, once again, Scott Matthews has given us a portal to his very core.