Scott’s voice is heart melting, his songs carry me away Vashti Bunyan (on Restless Lullabies), 2023
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, Bert Jansch, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Foo Fighters, Snow Patrol and Tori Amos.
A big favourite of ours...just gorgeous Lauren Laverne, BBC 6 Music
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, having encountered each other whilst performing in Joe Boyd’s stage production of Way to Blue – The Songs of Nick Drake.
Championed by Lauren Laverne as ‘a big favourite’ and Huey Morgan as being ‘something else’, Scott’s musical dexterity and experimentative approach to song-writing and home-recording continued to excite over the course of the next several albums released on his own label, from the intrinsically poetic, organic nature of The Great Untold, to the daring and audacious New Skin.
His music has a glorious atmosphere Bob Harris, BBC Radio 2
But this story is not over yet and the Ivor Novello award-winner is not afraid to evolve once more. From within this freshly paved electronic landscape, 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.
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.
I can’t speak highly enough of this massively talented singer-songwriter who sings every note like it’s his last with the most effortless of deliveries Chris Hawkins, BBC 6 Music