Skywriter
Self-Released, 2022
8/10
An artist with his hands full at all times, Matthew Davies is probably with his 4 kids or swimming when he’s not making music solo or with his band Thriftones, and this installment of his song craft brings plenty of help along for the Americana/hybrid listen.
“On The Radio” opens with some quick hand percussion, before swift acoustic guitar and crisp drumming from Hayward Williams complements the vivid storytelling that’s quite breezy, and “Bring My Old Friend Back” follows with a calmer pace of soulful backing vocals from Steph Davies and Orly Bendavid for the nostalgic folk-rock appeal.
Halfway through, “Muddy River Blues” showcases a more intimate delivery of expressive singing and reflective guitar that indeed touches on the blues, while “Monster” highlights Andrew Koenig’s precise bass in the haunting album highlight.
“Love To Ice” and “Bright Lights” exits the listen, where the former has a bit of a warm jangle that’s got some rootsy flavor that you could dance to, and the latter leads with piano balladry before building into a lush, cautious folk-rocker.
Davies brings a wealth of talent and experience to these sincere and timeless songs that are universally relatable and will serve as a fine introduction to this Wisconsin troubadour that we should all be more familiar with.
Travels well with: Adam Ezra Group- Better Than Bootleg, Vol. 3; Steve Dawson- at the bottom of a canyon in the branches of a tree