I honestly was worried I wouldn’t like the album. It wasn’t love at first hearing when the single Faster hit the airwaves. Don’t get me wrong, the more I listened to Faster the more I began to like it, but it wasn’t love. I expected to love everything and anything Matt Nathanson put out because well…he’s one of my favorites. I guess that sets a really high and possibly unreachable bar but it happens. We all have our favorites and in the end my favorite did not disappoint.
At first listen, I was intrigued and drawn in. Not instant love again, but I was definitely feeling it. Hearing the entire album even changed my mind about the song “Faster”. It fit into the “big picture”. After listening to the entire album I understood that “Faster” had a place in this grand story that Mr. Nathanson was telling. The flow of the album is wonderful with a great feel. The album weaves this modern love story with each song feeding into the other. You can tell care and much thought were put into the order of the songs.
Musicians that influenced Matt are also very apparent. You can hear how George Michael, The Cure, David Bowie influenced this album. And I’m not sure if they were influences of Matt’s, but I also hear touches of James Taylor, OAR, and Buffalo Springfield (beginning of Love Comes Tumbling Down…does anyone else hear this?) in the album. Not surprising really considering Matt’s vast collection of music. The man is an encyclopedia of music knowledge.
This was an album conceived from love, a love of music. Matt put together an album he always wanted to release putting caution to the wind and telling the boundaries he usually set for himself to f*ck off. The result was an impressive album with a retro sound reminiscent of past greats but entirely Matt. Its a different sound and for Matt fans of the past, it may be hard to swallow but I say give it a chance. Listen to the album in its entirety and I think Modern Love will win you over like it did me.
Standout Songs for me:
Room @ the End of the World
Modern Love
Bottom of the Sea
Love Comes Tumbling Down
Mercy
….oh wait, thats half the album. I guess what I am saying is… BUY THE ALBUM! (Its on sale pretty much everywhere)
For those in the Seattle area, Matt Nathanson will be performing at the Seattle Center for the Greennote Festival on July 9th. Tickets on sale now at Brown Paper Tickets .
Posted by LW and tagged as Faster, Matt Nathanson, Modern Love, music, singer-songwriter
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