Wolverhampton has had a mixed bag of famous sons. On the one hand you have a musical legend in the form of Robert Plant (and more on him later). On the other you have the slightly more controversial figure of Enoch “Rivers of Blood” Powell.

Now the good people of Wolverhampton are in credit to the tune of one more hero thanks to Scott Matthews, a singer/songwriter with an astounding ear for a good tune.

The city has, in fact, been blessed with this musician for some time. Matthews’ debut album Passing Stranger was met with much critical acclaim upon its release in 2006. And rightly so. Now, with a sophomore record, this artist gives the lie to any clichés about the dreaded second album syndrome.

Elsewhere is one of the most complete, focussed albums you could ever hope to hear. It is a concept album for the lonely, the lost and, most importantly, the restless. In different ways and different shades, the eleven songs featured here concern themselves with an imperfect present and a seeming unobtainable future.

Talk of roads as a metaphor is common practice among songwriters. It’s probably the first thing you get taught in Song Writing 101. That and songs about rain and sunsets. In the hands of the wrong people such songs can sound trite and so full of one dimensional worthiness that they lose all meaning.

Here, the story is different. Scott Matthews has decided to devote the whole of the record to a sense of dissatisfaction and longing and the talk of roads is entirely apt: “I walked a bad road to your heart” (“Suddenly You Figure Out”); “The suitcase is packed but there’s nowhere to belong” (“Up on the Hill”) and “Your destination never came” (“Speeding Slowly”).

The despondent feelings are summed up in one of the songs’ titles: “Nothing’s Quite Right Here”. Meanwhile, other songs allude to the feeling of detachment and desolation with titles like “Fades in Vain”, “Into the Firing Line” and “Fractured”. The result is an album filled with beautiful songs dedicated to this overwhelming sensation of restless, a desire to be……elsewhere.In this second album, Matthews’ musical style has shifted slightly away from the American influences that infused his debut.

The impressive Passing Stranger lingered in the shadows of the spectre of Jeff Buckley, aided and abetted by delta blues-iness and dusky Latino rhythms.With Elsewhere, the singer edges towards a Mid-Atlantic medley somewhere between Ed Harcourt and Ryan Adams, Nick Drake and Simon & Garfunkel.In one of the album’s most beautiful moments, Matthews is joined by Robert Plant on “12 Harps”.

The result is a ghostly love poem set to the sound of the most fragile harp accompaniment imaginable.Aside from Joanna Newsom, harps have been an unlikely weapon of choice in the history of popular music, but the effects here are beautiful, haunting and utterly gorgeous.

Harps aside, the album is filled with sumptuous sounds. Strings feature heavily, adding a richness to “Speeding Slowly” while “Suddenly You Figure Out” comes complete with the swelling of parping brass and soaring Celtic sounding guitar solos.

Elsewhere, electronic instruments feature with a Rhodes piano underscoring many of the tracks. For an album so concerned with feelings of doubt and introspection this is a very self assured album indeed. The music and lyrics combine to produce a thick texture of sadness that will have miserablists like this reviewer some cause to celebrate - if that is at all possible. Rating: 9/10Format: Album

Release date: 25/05/09

Record Label: San Remo Records

www.scottmatthewsmusic.co.uk

www.myspace.com/scottmatthewsmusic

22/05/09 - First published on www.noizemakesenemies.co.uk on this link