Matthew Glenn Thompson...

'The Garden and The Arcade'

Straight out of the Lone Star State comes Matthew Glenn Thompson for his UK debut with his album The Garden and The Arcade. Having recently filmed the video for his single ‘Ordinary Girl’ Thompson is looking to be one of this year’s hot must see acts, and I was fortunate to be able to review this album through website New Reviews.

Produced by Casey Diiorio, noted for his successful work with Bowling for Soup’s A Hangover You Don’t Deserve, my expectations were high for Thompson. As I always seem to be saying when confronted with new music – I wasn’t disappointed by it. The album is crammed full of thoughtful and meaningful song work, apparent from the very beginning. The fact that The Garden and The Arcade is dedicated to Thompson’s daughter is just as heart-warming as many of his lyrics. His vibe is chilled and laid-back, similar to acts like Jack Johnson and John Mayer, and though his lyrical content is emotional and touching he expresses it with a charming calmness.

The song January Day stood out to me, speaking to me like a oxymoron – its content is both heartbreaking and uplifting, with some interesting lyrics in there. I especially loved the guitar in this song, which I felt really made the track even though it doesn’t dominate the track. Similarly I enjoyed the title track of the album The Garden and The Arcade, which featured some really nice supporting piano and a good country feel to it.

 Overall, I was impressed with Matthew Glenn Thompson’s work, but I wasn’t blown away. His style is great and I’m definitely a fan, but towards the end some of the songs felt samey and less defined. Despite this I’m eager to hear more from this guy – I’m sure if he just keeps pushing it he will come up with something amazing.

 

Brought to you by our guest reviewer Amy