Taking influence from the early prog rock legends before them, Matthew Shadley Band has released their fifth studio album, Shaka, out everywhere now. The band cites some of their influences as King Crimson, Pink Floyd, and more from that era of sound. Diving headfirst into exploration, the group wanted to experiment with longer tracks and long instrumental solos, really letting that instrumentation shine. The Matthew Shadley band has been making music together since 2003, with Matthew Shadley Brauer writing 7 original songs for their latest project.
The first track transports the listener into a world full of haunting yet peaceful visions. The 8-minute song experiments with tempo changes as well as time signature and key changes.
When talking about what he hoped the listener would take away from the piece, Brauer shared, “I set out to do something dramatic, heavy, and a little dark for the opening song. The baritone guitars and 5-string bass worked nicely to set it up.”
And he accomplished just that, the song achieves a certain ominous sound when it slows down and has this dirty baritone guitars leading the charge.
“Heroes” was a song that actually almost did not make the project. Brauer shared that he was inspired by Robert Fripp and Brian Eno who both collaborated on the David Bowie track. Brauer is able to blend the cover and transform it into a sound that fits perfectly with the band’s sound. Lyrically, it continues to follow that fantasy world that the opening song introduced us too.
While “Heroes” was a surprise add, it was a long time coming for the band’s track “Slipping Away.” The song has been in the band’s repertoire for 20 years but never managed to fit into an album. Matthew Shadley Band has had band members join and leave but one of the original members Jason Scherrer came back and recorded backing vocals for the track, similar to how he would when the group used to play it live. The song has a unique flute-like hook that stands out against a lot of modern rock music. The guitars are rich and bright, breaking up the wall of sound that builds up on the track.
Overall, Matthew Shadley Band continues to prove they have a strong vision for the music they wish to create. They are able to take a single idea and really build it out to an impressive scale. It is always exciting to see what is next for the group.
Written by Katie Power
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