"and he won't stop chit chat, chattering..."
The precise jumbled construction of "The Stranger" by The Violet Hum, the project name of London singer songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Matt Arthur (The Coo, The Arthur Brothers), has a kind of haunting gothic folk / dark blues center with post rock grand eruptions of sound rising around it. This counter position of things that lurk in the swamp in the 'before' times with knifing guitar lines and Matt's evocative vox that feel in the hear is so interesting. It has that kind of late mid to late 70's sense of artists like Led Zeppelin or Genesis or Yes whose imagery might cast imagery of axe wielding Norsemen or the now of an artists like Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood who might infuse that kind of Led Zep slapping, sliding folk darkness in their songs (like "Numbers). I like these wide array of sounds and influences that The Violet Hum conjures up in my rattled brain.
"The Stranger" also has a baroque pop aesthetic within it's witchy or warlockian edges. It would not be unusual for you to fade to other dark places while listening that contain black cats and bubbling caldrons. I thought this before reading about what informs this track and it is interesting because I can see the connection of dark spirits and spell casting to control someone and what Matt shares this about the song.
He says:
It was made in my small flat in London, mostly during the pandemic lockdowns in the UK. I had quite recently bought some home recording equipment and I didn’t really know too much about how it all worked… the only thing to do was try and produce some songs and I remember this being one of the first things that actually worked out. I got my friend, the producer Sean Gascoigne to overdub some drums for it."
"The Stranger" is the second single of Matt's first self produced The Violet Hum EP called "How To Swim" which he is currently working on. I wrote about the first single called "Rainbow Song" and you can find the link to that review below.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.americanpancake.com/2022/02/the-violet-hum-and-cross-generational.html
https://soundcloud.com/theviolethum
https://open.spotify.com/track/5PyipQRkdTmhHY49pKIpMy
https://soundcloud.com/theviolethum
https://open.spotify.com/track/5PyipQRkdTmhHY49pKIpMy
https://www.facebook.com/theviolethum/
The Violet Hum is an indie-alternative musical chameleon which at its core revolves around the songwriting and production of multi-instrumentalist Matt Arthur (The Coo, The Arthur Brothers).
In early 2020 Arthur bought an eclectic assortment of home studio essentials with the general idea that he might start to develop the skills to produce recordings for himself. When the first coronavirus lockdown hit the UK, he suddenly found himself at the edge of what seemed like an unlimited chasm of time. What should happen next seemed obvious, and before he knew where he was, he found himself fully submerged in the murky waters of DIY music production.
The experimentations lasted throughout that year and well into 2021, during which time Arthur found deep artistic satisfaction in the process of expressing himself in the purest sense, without the need for the compromises that naturally come with musical collaborations. He also, slowly, started to find his feet and eventually emerged with a sound and a direction that would become The Violet Hum’s first EP, ‘How To Swim’.
The Violet Hum sound, and the sound of ‘How To Swim’, has echoes of ‘The Bends’ era Radiohead, the drama of Peter Gabriel and the clear and haunting vocals of Neil Young and Kate Bush. The record is a dense, melodic and atmospheric journey from the depths of an unforgiving ocean to the sunlit warmth of a golden beach that resonates with hope and fear in equal measure.
Says Arthur, “I’m afraid the EP itself offers very little in terms of practical swimming advice. But, I’m proud of the songs anyway. I dedicate it to everyone who has ever felt ‘all at sea’, which to be fair is probably everyone these last few years”.
* * *The Violet Hum is an indie-alternative musical chameleon which at its core revolves around the songwriting and production of multi-instrumentalist Matt Arthur (The Coo, The Arthur Brothers).
In early 2020 Arthur bought an eclectic assortment of home studio essentials with the general idea that he might start to develop the skills to produce recordings for himself. When the first coronavirus lockdown hit the UK, he suddenly found himself at the edge of what seemed like an unlimited chasm of time. What should happen next seemed obvious, and before he knew where he was, he found himself fully submerged in the murky waters of DIY music production.
The experimentations lasted throughout that year and well into 2021, during which time Arthur found deep artistic satisfaction in the process of expressing himself in the purest sense, without the need for the compromises that naturally come with musical collaborations. He also, slowly, started to find his feet and eventually emerged with a sound and a direction that would become The Violet Hum’s first EP, ‘How To Swim’.
The Violet Hum sound, and the sound of ‘How To Swim’, has echoes of ‘The Bends’ era Radiohead, the drama of Peter Gabriel and the clear and haunting vocals of Neil Young and Kate Bush. The record is a dense, melodic and atmospheric journey from the depths of an unforgiving ocean to the sunlit warmth of a golden beach that resonates with hope and fear in equal measure.
Says Arthur, “I’m afraid the EP itself offers very little in terms of practical swimming advice. But, I’m proud of the songs anyway. I dedicate it to everyone who has ever felt ‘all at sea’, which to be fair is probably everyone these last few years”.
We get by with a little help from our friends
The Violet Hum, post rock, indie rock, folk, alt rock, London, "The Stranger", OCD, upcoming EP, pandemic, home studio, singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, Matt Arthur, 4192022
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