THE NEVERENDING JOURNEY OF MATTHEW SANTOS
Published in AXS.com, July 2015
The opening track on Matthew Santos‘ most recent album, “Into the Further,” sounds like a live band shaking the walls off a tightly packed neighborhood lounge where everyone has stopped talking because the music is so freaking good. A funky jazz instrumental number captured in a fuzzy lo-tech manner, the rawness of the recording compliments the skill of the performers and the groove of the tune, which are both superb. From the get-go, you realize that this trio lives to play, and that all their instruments could probably fit into the back of a van.
It marks the beginning of a journey through multiple genres at multiple tempos, a trip worth the time as long as you know that there will be no extensive lingering at any given stop.
Before the sweat from the intensity of “Into the Further” has a chance to dry, the dreamy guitar licks of the second track, “Ojos,” trickle onto a trip hop beat that’s worth straining to hear. Gradually, the song builds into a full-on, fiddle-accented, heavenly-chorused symphonic victory that would make Moby jealous.
Then comes the third track and it’s this acoustic folkie surfer shuffle and you start to think the only link between the songs on this album is the fact that they’re on the same album. And then Santos begins to sing and nothing else matters.
In a voice that effortlessly transcends octaves unimaginable to anybody with testosterone, he pleads, “If you need somebody to love, I could be somebody to love,” and it works. It hits home. He is the heir apparent to the sky high vocal kingdom left by Jeff Buckley. He could sing about garbage and it would sound sweet.
The praise is nothing new to Santos, who collaborated with Lupe Fiasco on the Grammy nominated single, “Superstar,” in 2008. The success swept him into a whirlwind through some of the biggest shows on earth. For the next few years, he got direct props from the likes of Jay Z and Rihanna, who told him, “my manager and I have had extensive conversations about your voice,” before returning to the Midwest in 2010 to resume making his own music. Among the projects he’s found time to complete is the formation of the trio that produced “Into the Further.”
The key personnel include Emma Dayhuff on bass and Jon Deitemyer on drums, who play with a groove rarely heard since Soul Coughing circa “Ruby Vroom.” Together, they carry the high-pitched, guitar-strumming indie folk rocker Santos through all kinds of jazz, trip hop and orchestral rock. There’s even a moment during the song “Second Chances” when a mellow Simon and Garfunkle head-bobber goes into a full-on Moody Blues climax.
And then, like any true love, it comes back again.