One of the many things that I admire about MatAre is his ability to write song that sounds as much of the here-and-now as anything doing the rounds, but which contain, sometimes more loudly than others, sonic echoes of my own formative music tastes. It’s like nostalgia being used to help create the sound of today, a heady balance of then and now, what was and what might be.
“Into The Sea” is his new one, and it sees him hook up again with the Turkish music producer who goes by the brilliant name of Surfgreenvibes, and it certainly has this heady balance swirling around at its heart. That main riff is one that The Cure would have wrestled him to the ground to get their hands on during their more pop period. The bass line provides the unseen energy, that’s what the bass is there for. The drums are unfussy but unfaultable.
But as MatAre spins watery metaphor and surf-soaked sonics through the song, you realise that this is less a lesson in what was and more a reminder that classic sounds are classic for a reason. If it ain’t broke…etc.
And despite its obvious connection to a post-punk pop past, there is something so vibrant, so fresh, so welcoming and rewarding about his latest song that you can only see MatAre as an artist for the present moment…albeit one whose record collection I would love to have a dig through!
Pop music is a never-ending story, and, like all stories, what is happening in the present can’t help but be informed by what has gone before. “Into The Sea” feels like the retelling of a tale you half-remember from a long time ago, but one cloaked in the vibrancy of today’s sonic language.
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