STYLE: Roots/Acoustic RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 173419-27427 LABEL: Independent FORMAT: Digital Only EP
Reviewed by Lins Honeyman
When he's not leading worship at Grace Community Church in the town of Porthcawl on the south coast of Wales, Josh Matthews plies his trade as a singer/songwriter and his debut EP sees him team up with producer Ewan Jones for a collection of introspective songs that tell of the journey of following Christ throughout the singer's life. Things are kept relatively simple musically with nothing much more than an acoustic guitar, bass, drums and Heddwen Evans-Davies' harmonies to accompany Matthews' gritty vocals (sounding very much like fellow countryman Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics) to good effect. There's a natural progression here with the first two tracks "Open Book" and "Rain" dealing with looking back whilst "Couldn't If I Tried" recognises God in the present by paraphrasing Psalm 139. A couple of brief ambient interludes are included for padding before "Welcome Home" breaks the overriding melancholic feel of this release by cautiously looking outwards, upwards and onwards.
The opinions expressed in this article are
not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed
views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may
not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a
later date.
Interested in reviewing music? Find out
more here.