INDONATION.COM - JANUARY 2000
http://www.indonation.com/read.asp?ID=2469&CatID=1162
Matthew Jay - Four Songs
Four Songs is one of the first releases of 2000 that really does do what it says on the box. It really does have 4 songs! Great!
Matthew Jay combines his rich smooth vocals with acoustic backing and fabulous lyrics to create an energising and uplifting atmosphere. No special effects, no remixing, just plain simple music. It works, and very well too!
Not sure how to class this, could be rock, could be indy, could be brit pop, could be US rock. Bit of influence from Smashing Pumpkins perhaps? Nah! Maybe from Crash Test Dummies?. That's the point with this. You never quite know how to classify it. Depends on your mood. . . That's clever that is!

MELODY MAKER - 26 JANUARY 2000
Artists on the up this week.
Songs! Good ones!
WHO HE? Twenty-one year old singer songwriter, Nottingham resident and recent signing to Food, Matthew Jay. His debut four track EP Four Songs has exactly four songs on it. None of them are shit. Interestingly.
WHY BUY? Because Matthew writes songs full of an easy grace and sweetly melodic, heart-tugging suss. Think Dave Grohl singing 'White Album'-era Beatles hits at Bob Dylan's pace. Think songs that make you turn towards your CD player and go "F*** me, that's a bit good!" This is unusual, you understand. "At school no-one was into music in the same way I was. They wanted other things, I just wanted music."
TELL US MORE…"The mainstream is run by fat, middle-aged session song writers," thunders Matthew heart-warmingly. "They have no idea what's in the head of this generation." Go on son! "It's aggressively-marketed crap." Wahey!
BEST LISTENED TO…"In the car, in the bedroom, anywhere you like," grins Matthew. "I have a song for every angle." He no lie.
Rob Fitzpatrick.
The EP 'Four Songs' is out on January 31st on Food.

It's always good to catch people early, but this is ridiculous. Only 21 years old, Matthew Jay is straight outta erm, school in Abergavenny and the newest brightest signing to Food (label mate Graham Coxon is here watching) Blimey! Coxy must've been on a bender this week - Ed). To make matters more terrifying for him, tonight is Matthew's first proper London gig, and he's chosen an acoustic set at a venue where you can count the pores of the back row. Frankly, it's not an enviable position. Indeed, for the first minute or so, Matthew himself looks as if he might give it up as a bad job.Perched on a stool, with only his acoustic guitar for company, he visibly gulps and closes his eyes to the sea of faces. His voice wobbles slightly…But nothing happens. With every note, every new chord, Matthew grows stronger, calmer, and - crucially - convinced that this audience should actually be honoured to hear his perfectly crafted songs. By the time he plays his forthcoming second single 'You're Always Going Too Soon,' he even seems to be enjoying showing off his lilting Jeff Buckley-inspired vocals and scans the crowd issuing a silent challenge to those few resisting his charm. Matthew already knows they'll come round. After all, he has all the time in the world to win everyone over. But, judging by tonight, he shouldn't need it.
Siobhan Grogan.

How busy is it here tonight? As well as a growing legion of Matthew Jay fans and one madly enthusiastic journalist, there's a lively gaggle of excited music industry types and assorted grade pop stars (hello Graham from Blur! Hello erm, Louis from The Warm Jets), and together, packed sweatily, shoulder to shoulder, we witness one of the finest London debuts in living memory. Sympathetically supported by bass, drums and keyboard, Jay's tales of love, loss, despair, confusion and hope skirt around Elliott Smith territory, but never self-conciously so.. 'Four Minute Rebellion' sticks two fingers up at small-town ignorance, 'I Hope She's Alright' swings beautifully with waltz-time elegance, while the undeniably gorgeous new single, 'Please Don't Send Me Away,' squashes roughly four glorious pop moments into an equal number of minutes. Whether Matthew Jay will be as massive as he deserves to be - a believe it, he deserves a string of top 10 hits and undying critical adulation - isn't what's really important. What is important though, is that at just 21, he has the wonderful songs, the sumptuous voice and the gently sussed poise to become very precious indeed to those people willing to listen. You should be one of them.
Rob Fitzpatrick.

NME - 6 MAY 2000.
As career choices go, you could say Matthew Jay didn't have a great many. By the time he hit adolescence, both his parents were semi-professional folk musicians, and Matthew had been touring Butlins, playing bass for several years. "It's ridiculous really, looking back," Matthew shrugs cheerily. "When everybody else would have a drink post-gig, I'd be hitting the orange juice. I even insisted our family band played a Shakin' Stevens song in the set." By the age of 16, the sound of a different instrument emanated from each of his siblings''rooms in their home in South Wales. Matthew meanwhile, suddenly ditched old Shaky and realised the potential in digging out records by the Beatles, Queen and Led Zeppelin. "Because there was so much music around," he says today, only a shamelessly fresh-faced 21, "I rebelled against that and played pop music. Any and all pop music that I could get my hands on." Which is, like most teen lives, where it turned interesting. By 18 Matthew had abandoned any idea of fleeing Abergavenny with his friends to attend university. Coincidentally, his Dad, freed from the local coal mine and sent on an inappropriate government retraining scheme, had filled his days carving his son a beautiful handmade guitar. Discovering that no-one in his small home town fancied joining a band, Matthew had little choice but to go it alone. "It's not been as bad as I thought," he reasons. "It's better than all those bands like The New Radicals, Simply Red and The Fall who pretend to be a band when they're really one bloke." Blur's label, Food, agreed and, after a bedroom demo and a quick handshake came the fragile Four Songs EP and now the Friendly Fire EP. Somewhere between Nick Drake and the catchiest of Crowded House's melodic moments, it indicates Matthew's growing confidence in his own enviable talent. At last he's starting to believe that he has something special to share with the world. His first two records prove that effortlessly. Thanks to their potent subtlety and his endearing shyness, you're in imminent danger of falling in love with Matthew's graceful heart-rending voice. Like we said, it's in his blood.
Siobhan Grogan.
The Friendly Fire EP is out on Monday on Food.
Matthew Jay plays a residency at London Covent Garden The Spot, May 11 and 25.

LAND OF SONG.NET - MARCH 2001
http://www.landofsong.net/matthew_jay/biog.shtml

Matthew Jay is the new golden boy of British folk pop. At just 21 years old, he's been compared to Nick Drake, Belle & Sebastian and Elliott Smith. His debut single, Please Don't Send Me Away, was Mark and Lard's Record Of The Week upon its release at the start of this year.

Matthew grew up in Abergavenny, South Wales, although he recently relocated to Nottingham, where he's currently putting a band together for future recordings and live shows.

In the past he's supported Beth Orton, and is signed to Blur's label Food records. Four Songs, the EP that contained Please Don't Send Me Away, is a sweetly melodic collection of timeless folk/pop songs based around Matthew's acoustic guitar playing.

In March 2001 Matthew released his debut album, Draw. Hailed as a work of assuredness and quality, it should set him up for some great things in the future.

CLUB WITH NO NAME live review
http://www.redambergreen.btinternet.co.uk/revjay.htm

MATTHEW JAY + LITTLE NIKITA + HOWARD
1st April 2001

Surrounded by candle light and bombai mix, the Sunday night acoustic show at Peterborough’s popular music venue the Club With No Name was brought to us by Howard, Little Nikita and Matthew Jay.

The first act of the night was Howard Moody who has been living in Peterborough for the last 8 years or so. Howard has always played acoustic sets solo which started off in Whitby where he grew up. Howard played mainly country and western as in the mid 80’s that’s all that there was on an acoustic level. Howard’s main influences are The Kinks, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. He is heavily into song writing and is inspired by events in the local area, protests and characters. His songs are very story-like in the way they are portrayed.

Howard took to the stage looking very confident and pulled off a very light-hearted, well-received performance. His music had a nice happy melodical approach to it and that is what you need on a Sunday evening after a hard weekend. Howard’s songs are all very interesting, small tales that delve into their own mysteries.

The second act of the night was another local favourite of mine, Little Nikita. My first thought to them playing an acoustic set was a little bit dazed as these guys just totally rock out on a normal gig night, so it proved to be a fascinating sight.

The lads mounted the stage a bag of nerves but soon settled down. We heard some familiars like The Little Hobo, Girl Next Door, A Golden Oldie, Tank Girl Cover and Phil’s award winning college work thrown in for the twist. The performance was overwhelming, Phil and Danny generated some real heartfelt, powerful vocals backed up by mellow and vibrant acoustic guitar and bass whilst Marc at the back was setting the path with some soft vivacious percussion. Their whole set was very soothing and this sort of music sets the emotions running high. Is there anything these guys aren’t capable of?

The last act of the night and the one who most people were there to see was Matthew Jay who had come along this particular night without his band. Matthew Jay formed in 1999 and have influences ranging from Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Dr Dre. They are currently signed to Food Records which basically came about by the band sending lots of tapes off to various labels. This year they plan to tour Europe, America and Japan and are set to release an album at the end of the year.

Onstage eventually Matthew Jay performed his 45 minutes with some real quality tunes that filtered his voice through in a very emotional and influential way that just comforted the audience's attention. It’s gigs like this we don’t see enough of, a chilled out evening with a warm glow to it.
Jed, GIMPmag.

Although more of a trickle than a flow, it's still surprising to note the insatiable supply of sensitive, even grouchy, male singer-songwriters provided by the music business. Whether will meet the demand is another matter, but artists like Ben Christopher Tom McRae and young Welshman Matthew Jay are giving it a crack. Jay was first on before American cult band Sparklehorse last night. After a wobbly moment or three, he eventually settled into a holding pattern of strum and twang as he celebrated the release of his debut album Draw. Four Minute Rebellion and the insistent Remember This Feeling finger Jay as an individual. With his floppy hair and faraway gaze, the 22-year-old from Abergavenny could play the winsome loser card, but he strikes out for territory which has more in common with a stripped-back rock approach. Abetted by cute sidekick Sam, whose treated guitar recalled Brian Eno's early solo days, Jay won over a crowd who didn't have a clue who he was. He'd started off by saying "I'm ready if you are," but finished by announcing a headline date at the Monarch this Wednesday. Word of mouth should push him to Camden. The kid's got a weird talent.
Max Bell.
Matthew Jay at Monarch NW1. 11 April 2001.

But it’s raining delicate men now and it has always been the well-hidden ones that made the best finds.

Last year, a certain scruffy Damon Gough turned up in the charts and overshadowed
most of his contemporaries while un-heralded David Gray gave the
Brit singer-songwriter mould a future with a smile.

Scottish duo Mull Historical Society look the part as this year’s precious find,
but it’s Welsh singer-songwriter Matthew Jay which is the sort of solo musician to
lay claim as a modern-day Nick Drake-meets-John Fahey.

It always sounds like a curse to be compared to such hallowed names, but 22-year-old
Jay is bound to make a good showing before the year is out. The man’s debut Draw
has all the hallmarks of a low-key classic, paying attention to emotive turns while
stringing together fragmented romantic notions to sum up a highly tuneful album.

After all, Jay’s music is far from the usual mumbling lo-fi. Instead, it has a sweet edge, packed with new-found optimism and stems from a reverential Lennon-McCartney
category.

There are revealingly earnest compositions that seem to grow larger and wider
with a strikingly self-assured momentum.

The caustic opener Four Minute Rebellion speaks its mind with such unpretentious conviction. This lad could make the most clichéd chord sound beautiful and the
simplest ones seem special, too.

It’s really unexplainable how understated numbers like Let Your Shoulder Fall and
Please Don’t Send Me Away sound as if they were freshly written just before the
recordings, but still coming up roses.

The haunting nature and supple soul of Jay’s work is most appealing. He hardly
breaks a sweat when writing accessible and melancholy-based numbers about
redemption (A World Away), rekindling a lost teenage dream (You’re Always Going
Too Soon), walking away (Remember This Feeling) or recalling a divorce scene (Meteorology).

These are warm-hearted tunes which are meant to be savoured in quiet,
contemplative time and light.

The entire album has a strong reflective accent, sometimes gutsy but always
gliding through light-weight buoyancy and seemingly set to grow in stature.

There is no question that Matthew Jay deserves a further push up the mainstream.

Reviewer: Daryl Goh

One of the peculiar things that happens as you get older is that you can find yourself listening to Virgin Radio. You might say: "Oh, it's just when I'm driving." Or "It's just when I'm washing up,," but the fact is that you do it, and you know it's wrong. What a station. Sure they play The Clash, but only 'Rock the Casbah.' Yes, they play Bowie, but nothing before 'Ashes to Ashes.' But I heard 'Always Crashing in the Same Car' on Radio 2 the other day. Radio 2! Personally, I only listen to Virgin in the car or when I'm washing up,. But if I hadn't, then I might never have heard Matthew Jay's yearning, wistful song 'Please Don't Send Me Away,' and then I wouldn't be recommending to you his very fine debut album, 'Draw,' and so you'd probably go out this weekend and do something really daft, like buy the new Travis LP. Hearing Matthew Jay for the first time was a special moment. The song was so good I pulled the car right over. All right, it wasn't that good,, but I definitely lifted my foot off the gas. (It's not a driving song, it's a drifting song). It has a fantastic, meandering quality. A tentatively strummed guitar leads you along for a minute and you think "Where are we off to then?" and it all seems a bit wishy-washy, until you stumble upon this divine, ethereal chorus that's not a million miles from 'If You Leave Me Now' by Chicago - which I appreciate won't be a recommendation for everyone - and then it all makes sense. Running through the song's margins are these burnished doodles of noise - something that sounds like distant, slow-motion helicopter blades, like in Morrissey's 'Jack the Ripper,' and curls of backwards guitar effects purloined from 'Revolver.' The really good news is that the rest of 'Draw' takes these experiments and runs with them. Jay, who is, dreadfully, only 22, turns out to be a rather well-kept secret, even at his own record company. When I tell the press officer that I'm calling about Matthew Jay, there is genuine relief in his voice. Has anyone written about him yet? "No they haven't," is the forlorn reply, the subtext being, "but they bloody well should have by now." Jay thinks this is funny. "I'm so underground," he coos. We are sitting in his cramped tour bus, which has proper tinted windows but not much room for rock 'n' roll debauchery, though Jay owns up to a touch of foundation, possibly because I have been admiring the powdery orange surface of his cheeks. "I don't usually wear it," he explains, "But we did Top of the Pops earlier on." We are parked outside The Monarch, a North London Pub where he will shortly be playing to a packed house. How packed? The tour manager has to beg a ticket from the keyboard player just to get me in - that's how packed. "It's so arrogant if you think about it," Jay muses. "I get to stand on stage and tell everyone what I think about life, then they clap afterwards." You can understand where this humility, this whiff of anxiety, comes from. From the time he penned his first song at the age of 15, Jay's songwriting was conducted alone in his room with an acoustic guitar. "I wrote because I wanted to. Always have done. It's the source of my happiness. I like to see how well I can express what's in my head."

As a teenager in Abergavenny, he devoured everything he could get his hands on, which wasn't much.. "I was into whatever I could buy at Woolworths. They never had anything.You always had to order it. You have to rememeber that Abergavenny is a place where the music scene amounts to one room with sawdust on the floor, where they play 'Wonderwall,' at the end of every night. He lived for The Beatles, The Who, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, - all the usual suspects. He couldn't tolerate dance music until he moved to Nottingham; now he can't get enough of it. That's where he found hip-hop too. If you've only heard the single, or only read the front cover of the album, which announces consumer-friendly comparisons with other superficially similar songwriters, then you may be surprised to learn that Jay is less impressed with Badly Drawn Boy than by the badly behaved boys of modern music. Indeed, in the course of our conversation, he is never as animated as when he is discussing rap and hip-hop. "I feel very resnetful that I didn't get into hip-hop sooner. It's the most amazing music. Rappers can be funny, they can take risks, say the things that make you giggle in a nervous way. What's really interesting is they're playing characters. It's pure theatre - Slim Shady is just a character, like Bowie's Thin White Duke. I think that's brilliant. I could never get away with that."
If Jay envies the stylistic freedom of rap and hip-hop, then at least he's doing somethng about challenging the boundaries of his own chosen genre, and quickly, before he gets stereotyped as another Sensitive Young Man With Acoustic Guitar. "I'm not using the acoustic so much now. It's more like an abacus for me: it was a starting point. I might refer back to it, but I've moved on. And I've always loved messing about with my voice, even when I was writing stuff in my bedroom - putting distortion on it, making myself not sound like me." You can still discern this restlessness on 'Draw,' where you will find the impudent bolshiness of 'Four Minute Rebellion' which actually lasts just under two minutes ("We wanted the album to fit on one side of a C90," he offers helpfully), resting just a stone's throw from the dense, luxurious strings of 'Meteorology and the harder textures of 'Remember This Feeling.' It augurs very well for the next album.
"I've already written some new stuff. Some of the songs are a bit hip-hop, some are proper rock songs. I'm going to insist that I'm left alone for a few months to live a bit and get it all together." That's as much of the future as he seems prepared to predict. "I want to sell enough records to be able to make another one. I don't really want fame. I feel awkward with people looking at me." You would be hard pressed to detect any awkwardness when he takes the stage. He's a model of confidence and very deft with the self-deprecating touches. "You've got to make this go Top 75 at least, or else I'll get dropped," he urges the audience before 'Please Don't Send Me Away.'
He's even brassy enough to have a pop at those music journalists who suddenly become interested in him. "Sorry, I'm not talking much tonight he apologises to the crowd. "It's all I've been doing all day. 'So Matthew, how did you get started in music?' 'Well I have musical parents and - oh piss off!' Savage. But, like the man says: it wasn't me.

Draw is released onApril 16th, and Matthew plays Barfly Wales in Cardiff on April 12th.

THE FLY - APRIL 2001
Profile 2
Do you remember the innocence of your first kiss?
It's a beautiful time, a bold step towards growing up and having a memory that actually means something, a giant leap, taking your life into your own hands, learning to accept what's happening around you and dealing with the consequences of your actions. But the starting point can be seen as a place to make your first awkward step or the place you always wish to return to, always looking back.
Matthew Jay is 22 years old, and evokes images of shoulder-glancing when he speaks. Listen to his beautiful beautiful music and it's obvious that this guy didn't step away from his starting point, he simply opened his arms and ran straight into the unknown.
He's had a record deal for about 18 months now, and finds himself on an ever-decreasing Food Records roster (Blur and Idlewild complete the wage bill.) There's just him and his guitar. Oh and a batch of wonderful songs that would bring any romantic to their knees.
He had the benefit of having a father that shoved an acousitic guitar into his hand from a very early age (the very same guitar which he still uses to write his songs), and regularly played with his folk musician parents- he would either be taken around the fok clubs close to where he was brought up in South Wales (his Plymouth birthplace takes the edge off his accent a tad). His wide-eyed naivity is bettered by an extremely profound intelligence that suggests thought and muse are not only Jay's bedfellows, but his inspirations too. Matthew now lives in Nottingham, near his mentor, producer and manager, who has guided this genial songsmith into newer creative waters. His acoustic roots are merely the beginning, and his new-found love of looping and sampling has brought him a whole range of ideas and ways of working. The earlier Eps, 'Four Songs' and 'Friendly Fire') now seem almost naked and stark compared to the album 'Draw,' which appears this month. Comparrisons often seem to mention 'Tougher Elliott Smith' or 'Lucid Nick Drake,' and it is not difficult to see why. Lyrically he expresses himself with an innocence that belies the first kiss, building on themes of life and death, darkness and light. Here here is a man/boy who represses the dour nature of these subjects, preferring instead to be honest about them all.
Ian Abraham

DESIGNER MAGAZINE April 2001

Matthew Jay is being tipped for being this years big thing. As an artist he's as likely to grace the covers of Smash Hits as he is to grace the covers of Mojo which just about makes him the perfect interview subject for Designer Magazine. After a series of low key EPs out the general public can finally get to hear what all the fuss is about with the debut album "Draw" released this week. Its one of the albums of the year but you wouldn't imagine it coming from a person who used to listen to Shakin' Stevens and believes Eminem is the new Bob Dylan.

Q: How does it feel to be this years critics choice?
A: I totally respect music journalism. Everyone loves it until they get slagged off. I read a lot of music journalism, old and new, and these people are writing things down because they mostly love music. I think one of the best reviews I had was of a shite gig but this guy said "it is a shite gig, but the songs are good." I respect that more than someone saying its fantastic just because everyone else is - the music industry is full of bullshit.

Kelly Jones is someone who has been slagged off a lot. Of course you don't like someone who doesn't like you. If they keep calling him "meat and potato" then he's not going to like them.

Q: Using the term loosely as a folk singer what's your lyrical palette?
A: Its all about personal experience really. Its the stuff I respond to best. I like Bob Dylan when he was talking about himself but I wasn't too keen on his hip lyrics and his reactionary stuff. I liked him when he was just being honest. I'm just sat around at the moment listening to Eminem. People say its a strange choice but my favourite artist is Bob Dylan and Eminem reminds me of Bob Dylan. Its not so strange!!!

Q: There's an honesty and passion in your music as opposed to the attitude of a city band?
A: I don't know. I think the Stone Roses and Oasis, although they've got attitude, still have an honesty. You can have attitude in lots of different ways. You can jump around and swear alot which is cool, in fact I'm quite a fan of Eminem. I think the music I play is quite confrontation in as though its quite bare - I don't mind showing a bit of myself now and again.

Q: It was your parents who got you into music wasn't it?
A: I think I'd always been into music. You don't know what is cool when you're young. I was into Queen, Michael Jackson and I think my mum bought me Shakin' Stevens which I liked for a while, but then I got into Elvis.

My parents were really into their classical music and it got me into Tchaikovsky, who I still listen to this day. I think he was probably one of the first rock stars, with his weird attitude and his massive beard. He was a nutter who was in love with his mum. I was listening to Dylan, Stones, Beatles, Led Zep up until the age of about 5 when you just listen to your parents' record collection

I think the first record I bought was Michael Jacksons "Thriller". I still like the production of Quincy Jones - he's a perfectionist but he still gets soul on the records.

*********
The album "Draw" is out now
*********

The accepted logic is that you've got to haul your arse up on stage across the country and around the world to make it big. But there are a few who manage to to secure a record deal without venturing out in front of Joe public, and Matthew Jay is one of them. The 22-year-old singer songwriter from South Wales hadn't played a single gig when he was signed to Food Records. "In my year at school, nobody played guitar or drums or anything that I could form a band from and play gigs," says Matthew, "Which is why I started playing in a different way, sitting in my bedroom writing and recording songs. It was for practical reasons. I thought 'Fuck it, I'll do it on my own.' I sent out a load of demos I'd recorded on my 8-track. A lot of record companies called up and asked where they could see me play. I explained I didn't have a band, and they weren't interested." But Food Records liked what they heard, and two years later Matthew's on tour with the Divine Comedy, just released his album Draw and he's fially got the band he always wanted, including ex-Six By Seven guitarist Sam Hempton - whose now his lead electric guitarist. "Sam brings a lot of colourful sounds," explains Matthew. "But most importantly, he's my kind of guitar player. I don't like placing a lot of importance on technique. I'm more interested in sounds and making things dynamic and colourful. Sam can get the weirdest sounds out of this huge box of pedals that he's got…" Hempton's drumstick-as-a-slide technique can be heard for a split second on the track Remember This Feeling, his only contribution to Draw. They've been rehearsing for this tour, and Sam's been given free rein. "We got together before December and Matthew showed me all the guitar parts," he says. "There's a harmonica solo on one of those songs so I just try to emulate that on guitar. I made a part that wasn't the same, but still captured the feeling." The two guitarists share a passion for how music should be made and they seem to be learning as much about each other during the interview as we are about them. They both started learning the violin. ("Did you? I did too…") They both learned guitar basics from their dad's, and between them, they have an exhaustive knowledge of the music of the 60s. That's all reflected in the kind of music they make. Draw is a strange collection of tunes: "My rules for songwriting are: 'Do I like it? And 'Have I played anything like it before?'" says Matthew. There have been lazy comparisons to Nick Drake and Elliott Smith, but, as Matthew points out, every white male singer with an acoustic guitar is likely to have the same thing said about them. What makes it really stand out is his ability to create soundscapes and to draw on a huge range of music. There are ambient moments, folky twists, bluesy licks. Ultimately, though, it's 'Matthew Jay music.' "We're obsessed with the way things bounce around," says Matthew. "It's called music and I'm into the passion and the attitude, the melody. But it's actually how something sounds when you hit it or pluck it: that's what gets to us. People tune into different things, for some it's melody, some rhythm, others words… Everyone takes something different."
Check out Draw. Maybe it'll inspire you to dust off that old eight-track. (MS)

UNCUT - MAY 2001
Matthew Jay
Draw
Fine debut from Britain's answer to Elliot Smith

You can't accuse Andy Ross and his Food label of jumping on the post-David Gray bandwaggon, for they've been grooming Matthew Jay for more than a year with a brace of impressive Eps and well-chosen support gigs. Jay is a 22-year-old Welshman with an acoustic guitar who clearly benefited from growing up on his parents' record collection of classic Sixties and Seventies albums. Nick Drake is one obvious reference point and among more contemporary performers, there's a strong affinity with Elliott Smith, with whom he also shares a strong Beatles/Abbey Road influence. Like Smith, he's not restricted by the strightjacket of conventional verse-chorus formats, allowing such songs as You're Always Going Too Soon and Meteorology to develop in more free-flowing fashion. On the other hand, Call My Name Out has an infection a chorus as any you will hear this year.
Nigel Williamson.

Don't push Matthew Jay into the current Brit "acoustic is the new heavy" category. Though he has toured with Starsailor, and has been called a "lucid Nick Drake," Jay isn't so easy to define. His family roots in folk are evident, but Jay takes the simplicity of acoustic a step further by bringing sly ambient samples and loops into the mix. When the first single, "Let Your Shoulder Fall," slips into your subconscious, which it undoubtedly will do, it's hard to let go of Jay's creamy voice and melodies.

Draw is an unusually confident and well-written debut, and quite different from Jay's acoustically driven peers (Coldplay, Travis, Starsailor, et al.) Thematically, there seems to be a lot about death and change, but the album avoids unbearable tragedy. Some songs are so infectious you'll be walking down the street with a silly grin on your face, humming the hey na na's, or maybe even singing along without a care: "I wanna be in your life, you turn me on/ With your crooked smile/ Whenever I look at you, I feel as though/ It's all coming right" ("Call My Name Out"). "Molasses," the only instrumental piece, is both haunting and aptly named. And reading into the sexual innuendo of "A World Away" is like sneaking a peek at a comforting and beautiful love letter.

The only complaint I have about this record is that the emotional leaps from song to song can be overwhelming at times. The transition between "Call My Name Out" and "Molasses" can be confusing on the first listen. Wistful sadness can turn into happy reflection, even within one song ("You're Always Going Too Soon"). It's a bit schizoid, but then again, so is life. After multiple spins, Jay's great talent for melody is increasingly evident, as is his ability to poetically reflect on the human condition. I can't wait for the next chapter in what I hope will be a lengthy career.
by Kate Guay

UKMIX.NET - MAY 2001
http://www.ukmix.net/reviews/albums/2001/matthewjay.html
The UK's online music community

Last year there were two big names in indie music: Coldplay and David Gray. Many bands are trying to be "this year's Coldplay," but who is "this year's David Gray?" Hopefully it will be Matthew Jay.
This is an album of beautifully crafted indie music generally similar in style to Travis, and every bit as good. Matthew effortlessly changes from emotion- filled indie ballads, to the ultimate in feel-good songs. Matthew Jay has been compared to Elliot Smith and Nick Drake - I don't know much about them, but if this is true, then Elliot and Nick must be very good.
"Four Minute Rebellion" opens the album and apart from the out-of-place swearing, it is pretty typical of the album. Before this album, "Four Minute Rebellion" was one of 3 tracks previously on EPs, obviously carefully chosen from there as it is one of the standout EP tracks. After that, comes the album's upbeat highlight - first single, "Let Your Shoulder Fall." Even if nothing else can, this is bound to put a smile on your face.
The upbeat folky, "You're Only Going Too Soon," is another contender for a single, although none of the tracks are quite as good as, "Please Don't Send Me Away." It is the current single, and a very obvious one, although the subject matter - about a guy who's done little wrong in his life trying to get into heaven, is somewhat strange.
However, "Please Don't Send Me Away" is far from alone in the emotion-filling area. Tracks like, "Remember This Feeling," "Meteorology," "Remember This Feeling," "A World Away" and the instrumental, "Molasses," are all of a similar standard and equally beautiful.
Of the other tracks, the other main upbeat track, "Call My Name Out," is an obvious choice for next single, with it's chant of "Hey na-na na-na-na-na, Hey-na-na, call my name out" and a rather Beatles-esque intro, as could "Become Yourself," with its instantly memorable chorus. Finally, "The Clearing" - it is maybe slightly poorer but is nevertheless an amazing track.
This album contains absolutely no fillers. Every track on it is amazing, and if only Matthew Jay got a bit more publicity, he could be massive. Also, having seen him (and his band) live, he is well worth seeing - if only he wasn't quite so shy!
Buy this album. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
Matthew Dixon

EYE.NET - Jun 14 2001
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_06.14.01/music/liveeye.html

Gig review
June 8, Ted's Wrecking Yard

Before he sang a note, 22-year-old Welsh singer/songwriter Matthew Jay explained how the air conditioning in his hotel room had given him a rather ill-timed cold. You didn't need the preamble to tell he was under the weather. His tender voice struggled in the very first song and never improved. It was a real pity, as the stripped-down set-up (Jay was accompanied by only one band member on additional guitar) put the focus on every imperfection. It's a testament to his exceptional songs (or his boyish good looks) that most in the packed club were perfectly delighted by the performance nonetheless.
LL

CANOE.CA - 28 JUNE 2001
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicArtistsJ/jay_matthew.html

Matthew Jay, Almost Famous
By Kieran Grant - Toronto Sun

Matthew Jay has some work to do is he's ever going to be a pop star. The Bristish singer-songwriter sits up straight and looks me right in the eye during a recent Toronto stop to promote his debut album, Draw.
Very un-starlike, and where are the measured aloofness, the "I just do my thing, y'know" cliches, and songs of emotional fragility? It's almost as if he doesn't want to be famous.
"I don't remember ever thinking, 'I wanna be a pop star,' " says the 22-year-old Jay, who's back in town opening for Doves at the Opera House Tuesday. "It just got to the point where the stuff I was hearing on the radio, and in some cases even buying, I thought was unoriginal and that I could do better. Of course it's arrogant to think that you're better than stuff that's a hit or commercial, but f--- 'em.
"I don't know what a pop star is. Gerri Halliwell? Robbie Williams? Or is it Bob Dylan? I like rock 'n' roll, I like being on the road. I like being in the studio until four in the morning. I like the life. You can give it a name, but what does being a pop star entail? Do I have to wear sunglasses now?"

Jay may find out soon enough. Released in the UK several months ago, and out in Canada this week through EMI, Draw has drawn rave reviews or its combination of clever, complex melody and ready pop accessibility.

According to record company lore, the young singer spent much of his childhood moving around Britain with his musical family, eventually settling in Abergavenny, South Wales. He began writing songs at around age 15. "Before that, I was just interested in football and girls," he says. "Writing melodies came naturally. To be honest, it's not rocket science. There are certain rules at work, found them through trial and error. If you do a two-part harmony, don't do parallel fifths. But you don't have to know what a parallel fifth is to know not to use it -- it sounds sh--! If you have an ear, you just have to trust yourself."

It wasn't long before Jay was clipping names of record labels and mailing off demo tapes. The technique eventually led to a deal with Blur's EMI-backed Food imprint.

"You've got to start somewhere," says the singer. "I didn't know anyone in that business. I thought, 'Why wouldn't they like this?' I figured some tapes might end up in the bin, and some might end up in the lap of someone who has a modicum of integrity. Luckily, that's what happened."

The self-possessed singer is almost dismissive of the critical success that has greeted Draw.

But there's a positive side to having scribes scramble to define him: Their comments represent the subtle variation of sounds on Draw, which roves from delicate guitar tunes to sophisticated electro-pop. "I'm very conscious of approaching everything I do differently from the last thing I did," Jay says. "There are artists who will find something good and just do that, maybe because they'll make money that way or something. I don't get off on that. I've located the source of my happiness fairly early, and that's making music that challenges my abilities as a singer and a songwriter and a guitar player, and
challenges what I know. "I don't want it to be like, 'For my next trick, I will...' But I'm in the privileged position where I can do what I want."

The LP ‘Draw’ is out now on Food.

EYE.NET - 28 JUNE 2001
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_06.28.01/music/mattjay.html

MATTHEW JAY'S RAP SHEET
Draw, the debut disc from Welsh singer/ songwriter Matthew Jay, is filled with those catchy, nice 'n' easy pop tunes we've come to expect from cute U.K. lads. As the 22-year-old is quick to point out, though, he also used beats and loops to show that he's as stimulated by hip-hop and house as by folk music.
What is your interest in dance music?
Where I come from in South Wales, there are 15,000 people and one club with sawdust on the floor that plays "Wonderwall" at the end of every night. But when I moved to Nottingham, I started to learn about it. The first time I recorded outside of my own bedroom was in a DJ studio. It's not really obvious, but at the end of "Let Your Shoulder Fall," you can see elements of acid house. You've got the psychedelic West Coast house in "Call My Name Out," then there is dubby "Molasses" and the Massive Attack-influenced "Remember This Feeling."
Do you think you are a sensitive guy?
That depends on what you mean by sensitive. Bob Dylan is sensitive. So is Dr. Dre.
Dr. Dre?
He's very sensitive. On his last album, there is the amoral, naughty-boy character he likes to do because it pisses a few feminists off and it makes a few boys giggle. That's fine. He's also a world-weary gangster. Then the last song on the album is about his brother who was killed. He'll show you everything. Anybody great can do that. You can't have 10 albums of someone who does one thing brilliantly.
What do you make of this New Acoustic Movement trend? Do you feel a part of that?
Not really. On this debut, there is a good spectrum, but there is definitely more to do. I've got a band now and I want to be a bit more punk, a bit more Stonesy. You can't shut people up with an acoustic guitar.
Matthew Jay opens for Doves Tuesday at the Opera House.
LIISA LADOUCEUR

CANOE.CA - 28 JUNE 2001
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicArtistsJ/jay_matthew.html

Matthew Jay, Almost Famous
By Kieran Grant - Toronto Sun
Matthew Jay has some work to do is he's ever going to be a pop star. The Bristish singer-songwriter sits up straight and looks me right in the eye during a recent Toronto stop to promote his debut album, Draw.
Very un-starlike, and where are the measured aloofness, the "I just do my thing, y'know" cliches, and songs of emotional fragility? It's almost as if he doesn't want to be famous.
"I don't remember ever thinking, 'I wanna be a pop star,' " says the 22-year-old Jay, who's back in town opening for Doves at the Opera House Tuesday. "It just got to the point where the stuff I was hearing on the radio, and in some cases even buying, I thought was unoriginal and that I could do better. Of course it's arrogant to think that you're better than stuff that's a hit or commercial, but f--- 'em.
"I don't know what a pop star is. Gerri Halliwell? Robbie Williams? Or is it Bob Dylan? I like rock 'n' roll, I like being on the road. I like being in the studio until four in the morning. I like the life. You can give it a name, but what does being a pop star entail? Do I have to wear sunglasses now?"

Jay may find out soon enough. Released in the UK several months ago, and out in Canada this week through EMI, Draw has drawn rave reviews or its combination of clever, complex melody and ready pop accessibility.

According to record company lore, the young singer spent much of his childhood moving around Britain with his musical family, eventually settling in Abergavenny, South Wales. He began writing songs at around age 15. "Before that, I was just interested in football and girls," he says. "Writing melodies came naturally. To be honest, it's not rocket science. There are certain rules at work, found them through trial and error. If you do a two-part harmony, don't do parallel fifths. But you don't have to know what a parallel fifth is to know not to use it -- it sounds sh--! If you have an ear, you just have to trust yourself."

It wasn't long before Jay was clipping names of record labels and mailing off demo tapes. The technique eventually led to a deal with Blur's EMI-backed Food imprint.

"You've got to start somewhere," says the singer. "I didn't know anyone in that business. I thought, 'Why wouldn't they like this?' I figured some tapes might end up in the bin, and some might end up in the lap of someone who has a modicum of integrity. Luckily, that's what happened."

The self-possessed singer is almost dismissive of the critical success that has greeted Draw.

But there's a positive side to having scribes scramble to define him: Their comments represent the subtle variation of sounds on Draw, which roves from delicate guitar tunes to sophisticated electro-pop. "I'm very conscious of approaching everything I do differently from the last thing I did," Jay says. "There are artists who will find something good and just do that, maybe because they'll make money that way or something. I don't get off on that. I've located the source of my happiness fairly early, and that's making music that challenges my abilities as a singer and a songwriter and a guitar player, and
challenges what I know. "I don't want it to be like, 'For my next trick, I will...' But I'm in the privileged position where I can do what I want."

'Call My Name Out' is the latest attempt at spreading the gospel that is Jay's superb debut album 'Draw'. Maybe not obvious single material but 'Call My Name Out' (identifiable by The Beatles 'hey-la-la' refrain) is an anthem all the same that proves when it comes to penning tunes, young Jay has healthy career prospects.

He can count himself deeply unlucky that he didn't make it on to the Mercury Music Prize shortlist. It'll be a travesty if he slips though the net again.

7/10
Chris Heath

If Ella Guru have a fault with their usual material, its probably that sometimes the vocals allow themselves to be swamped by the music. The pefect fix for this was hinted at tonight - the Lomax does allow you to listen, more so than the other stages in this city - and it depends on the song. The mellower songs should behave like Jane Austen virgins on their wedding nights, and ask the backings to assert their masculinity, but more gently; while the wilder numbers are calling out for the singer to tighten his trousers and embrace some shouting.

While Ella Guru could have been hand carved for this stage, Matthew Jay's music is clearly created with other places in mind - for the Sunday afternoon hiatus between first date and first shag; or the last band before twilight fellafel at Glastonbury.

A fan tells me that I should give them ten out of ten because they sound exactly like the album does; this is true, and while with some bands this would be a problem, highlighting either an unacceptable level of pre-gig construction work (There ain't no party not like any other S-Club Party) or a shortfall of inspiration. But with the Matthew Jay set up, it's appropriate - when the songs were crafted to perfection before they ever thought of seeking an audience, you have a body of work to exhibit; gigs are more an act of curation rather than an opportunity for on-the-spot reinterpretation.

"Must be a cousin of badly drawn boy - 'bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.' No, he's good" mutters an observer. "I think he's fucking brilliant" offers another. "These are going to be bigger than the Stereophonics."

Clearly, their record company doesn't think so, since Matthew shares that if next single doesn't get a top 75, there might not be any more. But 'please don't send me away' deserves much more than the shallows of that end of the chart - heartfelt and desperate, its fate should be under the skin, not skimming the surface. Sweetly, politely, but with a sense of time passing, this sums up the band's message: there's nowhere you can go where there's nobody, but that doesn't stop you being alone.
- Simon Budgen

The pair are said to have met last year at a StarSailor gig at the Social in Nottingham.. Already a fan of Mathew's music, James is said to have already in his collection Mathew's first two E.P.s and is rumoured to have seen Jay's performance at Glastonbury. Touring North Amercia together, the experience has seen the pair become close friends. The interview, which Crud is happy to report in full too place in a hotel bar in Toronto.

JAMES WALSH: FIRST, AN OBVIOUS QUESTION, WHAT'S THE BEST AND THE WORST GIG YOU'VE EVER PLAYED?

MATTHEW: I PLAYED ONE GIG WITH MY FAMILY, MY MUM AND DAD AND BROTHER ARE ALL MUSICIANS TOO, AND I PLAYED BASS IN THE FAMILY BAND, AND OUR AGENT BOOKED TO PLAY AT A FOOTBALL CLUB DO. IT TURNED NASTY AND A FEW FIGHTS BROKE OUT AND THERE WAS LOTS OF SWEARING, I REMEMBER SOMEONE CALLED MY DAD A WANKER. IT WAS PRETTY SCARY BECAUSE I WAS ONLY ABOUT THIRTEEN YEARS OLD AT THE TIME AND THERE WAS ALL THESE BIG BLOKES BRAWLING AROUND US. THAT HAS TO BE MY WORST EVER GIG, AS FOR THE BEST, WELL I PLAYED LIVERPOOL LOMAX ON THE LAST TOUR AND THE CROWD THERE WERE JUST SUPERB. EVERYBODY WAS WATCHING AND LISTENING TO THE SONGS, BUT IN BETWEEN SONGS THERE WAS LOTS OF BANTER AND IT WAS A GREAT LAUGH.

JAMES WALSH: YOU CALLED YOUR ALBUM 'DRAW', WHY WAS THAT, AND WHAT WERE THE MOST RIDICULOUS SUGGESTIONS THAT FRIENDS CAME UP WITH FOR A TITLE?

MATTHEW: NO ONE ACTUALLY SUGGESTED A TITLE TO ME, BUT I WENT THROUGH AN ALBUM TITLE EVERY DAY. ONE TIME IT WAS GONNA BE CALLED 'CALL ME OLD FASHIONED BUT.......FUCKING HELL' BECAUSE THAT WAS OUR FAVOURITE PHRASE FOR A WHILE, AND WE ALL THOUGHT IT WOULD MAKE A GREAT ALBUM TITLE WHEN WE WERE OFF OUR HEADS AT GLASTONBURY. OF COURSE, WE REALISED THE NEXT DAY THAT IT WAS CRAP. I LIKE THE TITLE 'DRAW' BECAUSE EVERYONE THINKS IT MEANS SOMETHING DIFFERENT. FOR INSTANCE A FRIEND IN BROOKLYN THOUGHT OF GUNS, MY MUM THOUGHT ABOUT ME DRAWING PICTURES AS A YOUNG BOY, AND ALL MY DOPE-SMOKING MATES THOUGHT IT WAS ABOUT POT.

JAMES WALSH: WHO WOULD YOU SAY IS THE BIGGEST VILLAIN IN ENTERTAINMENT?

MATTHEW: I WOULD HAVE TO SAY FRAN HEALY. I HAVE SPOKE TO HIM AND HE'S A REALLY, REALLY NICE GUY AND I DON'T WANT TO SLAG HIM OFF OR HURT HIS FEELINGS, BUT IF THERE IS SUCH A THING AS 'ANTI-MUSIC' THEN IT'S TRAVIS. ALL THAT THEY WANT TO DO IS MAKE SONGS THAT OTHER PEOPLE QUITE LIKE AND THEY DON'T WANT TO BREAK ANY NEW GROUND, THAT'S WHAT FRAN TOLD ME AND IT'S WHAT HE'S SAID IN INTERVIEWS, SO I'M NOT SAYING ANYTHING HE HASN'T SAID HIMSELF. HE THINKS ITS SELFISH TO GET TOO OBSESSED WITH YOUR MUSIC, AND THAT SONG 'SING', THE BIT WHERE HE GOES 'SING SING SING', THAT MELODY HAS BEEN USED IN HUNDREDS OF SONGS BEFORE. WHY NOT DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT, SOMETHING A BIT WEIRD? I FIND FRAN'S MUSIC OFFENSIVE EVEN THOUGH AS A MAN HE'S REALLY NICE. HE TOLD ME THAT HE DOESN'T LIKE WHAT RADIOHEAD ARE DOING BECAUSE IT'S TOO OBSESSIVE, BUT I THINK SOME OF THE STUFF ON RADIOHEAD'S LAST TWO ALBUMS HAS BEEN TERRIFIC, REALLY FUCKED UP. HOW CAN YOU MAKE MUSICAL PROGRESS WITHOUT ATTENTION TO DETAIL? THAT'S WHAT IAN MACDONALD SAID IN THE BOOK 'REVOLUTION IN THE HEAD', HE SAID ORIGINAL OUTPUT OFTEN COMES FROM ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND IT'S TRUE. IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE EXCITED BY DOING SOMETHING NEW AND IF YOU JUST WANT TO WRITE A REASONABLY PLEASANT TUNE LIKE 'DRIFTWOOD' THEN.......I QUITE LIKE THAT SONG BUT I HATE QUITE LIKING THINGS. I WANT TO LOVE THEM OR HATE THEM. SORRY FRAN!

JAMES WALSH: WHAT WAS THE FIRST SONG THAT YOU TAPED OFF THE RADIO?

MATTHEW: IT WAS 'THE RIGHT STUFF' BY NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK, AND I REMEMBER THEY HAD TWO SONGS IN THE TOP TEN, THERE WAS 'HANG TOUGH' AND 'THE RIGHT STUFF' AND I TAPED THEM BOTH. I TAPED 'HANG TOUGH' BECAUSE I LIKED DONNY, WHO'S AN ACTOR NOW I THINK, AND I REMEMBER ASKING MY MUM IF THEY REALLY WERE TOUGH AND SHE SAID "WELL I THINK IT MIGHT ALL BE AN ACT", AND I REMEMBER BEING ABSOLUTELY DISTRAUGHT THAT THEY MIGHT NOT ACTUALLY BE TOUGH.

JAMES WALSH: WHAT WAS THE LAST ALBUM THAT YOU BOUGHT?

MATTHEW: IT WAS BY A GUY CALLED REDMAN, HE'S A RAPPER, AND THERE'S A MISSY ELLIOTT APPEARANCE ON IT, WHICH IS ONE OF THE BEST 16 BAR PIECES OF RAPPING I'VE EVER HEARD. IT'S JUST REALLY FUNNY. SHE SINGS IN IT, SHE RAPS IN IT, SHE KIND OF HALF SINGS AND HALF RAPS, AND THERE'S A LOT OF MELODY TO HER VOICE BECAUSE SHE'S A BEAUTIFUL SOUL SINGER AND SHE'S THIS HARD RAPPER, AND THERE'S ALL THIS SPACE IN BETWEEN. REDMAN IS FUNNY, AND THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR ME IN HIP-HOP, TO BE MADE TO LAUGH.

JAMES WALSH: DO YOU EVER LISTEN TO YOUR MUM AND DAD'S RECORD COLLECTION?

MATTHEW: YEAH, OF COURSE. THEY USED TO HAVE LOADS OF RECORDS BUT I THINK THEY GAVE A LOT OF THEM AWAY WHEN THEY NEEDED SOME LOFT SPACE, WHICH I CAN'T BELIEVE TO THIS DAY. MY DAD HAD 'PHYSICAL GRAFFITI' BY LED ZEPPELIN AND I REMEMBER OPENING UP THE SLEEVE AND LOOKING AT ALL THE WINDOWS, THE BEAUTIFUL ARTWORK. I WASN'T INTERESTED IN THE RECORD, I WAS ONLY ABOUT 7, I JUST THOUGHT IT LOOKED REALLY GOOD. ANYWAY, WHEN I WAS ABOUT 13 OR 14 I STARTED LISTENING TO LED ZEPPELIN AND I REMEMBERED MY DAD HAD LED ZEPPELIN RECORDS SO I WENT UP TO THE LOFT AND THEY WEREN'T THERE. IT WAS HEARTBREAKING.

JAMES WALSH: IF YOU COULD SET UP A 'SUPERGROUP' OF ANY MUSICIANS, ALIVE OR DEAD, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE? YOU CAN HAVE 4 OR 5 MEMBERS.

MATTHEW: OKAY, YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THE CHEMISTRY OF THE BAND, YOU CAN'T JUST HAVE THE BEST PEOPLE, YOU HAVE TO HAVE PEOPLE WHO WILL BE CONTENT TO SIT BACK AND NOT WANT TO BE THE CENTRE OF ATTENTION. CAN I CHOOSE A PRODUCER AS WELL? OKAY, AS MY PRODUCER I'D HAVE DR DRE. HE'S AS GOOD AS QUINCY JONES, AND HE'S A RAPPER, AND HE LOOKS GREAT, AND HE SIGNED EMINEM, AND HE'S GOT HIS OWN LABEL. SO HE COULD PRODUCE IT, AND....CAN I BE IN THE BAND? I WANT TO BE IN THIS BAND. YES? OKAY, SO I'LL BE THE SINGER, AND I'D HAVE MY BAND'S GUITARIST SAM HEMPTON ON GUITAR. I LIKE HIM AND JOHNNY GREENWOOD (RADIOHEAD). I THINK JOHNNY IS MORE TECHNICAL THAN SAM, BUT SAM IS REALLY IMAGINATIVE. HE PLAYED ON 'REMEMBER THIS FEELING' ON MY ALBUM, HE USED A DRUMSTICK TO COME UP WITH THIS MAD NOISE AND IT'S MY FAVOURITE MOMENT ON THE ALBUM. SO NOW I NEED A DRUMMER, ALTHOUGH DR DRE WOULD PROVIDE THE LOOPS AND SAMPLED DRUMS. I WOULD SAY RINGO STARR JUST FOR HIS PERSONALITY, BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH HE WASN'T A REALLY GREAT DRUMMER YOU NEED SOMEONE IN THE BAND TO CLOWN AROUND. NOW WE NEED A BASS PLAYER. RONNIE LANE FROM THE SMALL FACES. HE'S A SONGWRITER AS WELL AND A REALLY MELODIC PLAYER. I LIKE MCCARTNEY AS WELL BUT I DON'T THINK HE AND DR DRE WOULD GET ON. THERE'D BE TOO MUCH BICKERING IN THE STUDIO. AND I'D ALSO HAVE A RAPPER - EMINEM. I WOULD SAY THAT HE'S A GOOD AS BOB DYLAN, HE'S LIKE THE RAP EQUIVALENT. HIS LYRICS ARE AMAZING.

JAMES WALSH: DID YOU RIGHT ALL THE SONGS ON 'DRAW' BEFORE YOU WENT INTO THE STUDIO?

MATTHEW: YEAH, I DON'T REALLY LIKE TO WRITE IN THE STUDIO. I HATE TO FEEL RUSHED.

JAMES WALSH: WAS THERE ANY TIME WHEN YOU WERE IN THE STUDIO AND YOU HEARD SOMETHING AND YOU JUST THOUGHT THAT IT WAS MAGICAL?

MATTHEW: YEAH, ON 'REMEMBER THIS FEELING', THE BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM. I REALLY LIKE THE BEAT ON IT, IF YOU WANTED YOU COULD RAP OVER IT. I WROTE THE SONG ON ONE NOTE, WITH 'TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS' IN MIND. SOMETIMES IT'S GOOD TO CHALLENGE YOURSELF AS A SONGWRITER, AND I CHALLENGED MYSELF TO WRITE THIS SONG ON ONE BASS NOTE. SO IT STARTED WITH THE BASS LINE, AND THEN I ADDED THE GUITARS. I WANTED TO SEE WHAT CHORDS WOULD WORK OVER THIS BASS LINE. THEN I ADDED THE VOCAL AS THE MELODY, AND SOMETIMES USED A REPEAT ON THE VOCAL AND SOMETIMES USED DELAY, SO THERE WERE TWO VOCALS MAKING THE MELODY ON THE TRACK. I LISTEN TO THE SONG NOW AND THINK 'DID I REALLY DO THAT?'

JAMES WALSH: WHY DO YOU THINK YOU MAKE THE MUSIC THAT YOU DO?

MATTHEW: I'VE NO IDEA WHAT MAKES ME MAKE THE MUSIC THAT I MAKE. THERE'S SOME STUFF ABOUT MY MUSIC THAT I LIKE AND SOME STUFF THAT I DON'T LIKE. WHAT I DO LIKE ABOUT IT IS THAT IT ISN'T ANY ONE THING. THERE'S THE FOLK THING FROM MY PARENTS, WHICH I'VE REBELLED AGAINST A BIT; THERE'S A POP THING; THERE'S A BIT OF HIP-HOP IN THERE; THERE'S A DANCE THING; AN AMBIENT THING; THERE'S A BEATLES'Y THING; A MELODY THING. I LIKE THAT I'M NOT SNOBBY, FOR INSTANCE I DON'T THINK THAT I SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO RAP. NO ONE SHOULD CRITICISE ME FOR RAPPING, NO JOURNALIST WORTH HIS SALT WOULD SAY 'WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING NOW?' BECAUSE DAVID BOWIE RAPPED, THOM YORKE RAPS IN THAT SONG WHERE HE GOES 'I WANNA BE WANNA BE WANNA BE', WHERE THERE'S NO TUNE TO IT. THERE'S NO REASON WHY YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING THAT YOU WANT. THAT'S WHY RADIOHEAD ARE GOING TO BE REMEMBERED LIKE THE BEATLES ARE REMEMBERED, AND TRAVIS ARE GOING TO BE REMEMBERED LIKE GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS.

JAMES WALSH: DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE BEING PIGEONHOLED AS A ACOUSTIC SINGER SONGWRITER?

MATTHEW: YEAH AND JUST TO SPITE THESE PEOPLE I'M NOT GOING TO BE LIKE THAT ANYMORE. THE NEXT ALBUM WILL NOT BE ACOUSTIC BASED, OUT OF PRINCIPLE. I'LL ALWAYS USE THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR BUT I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO JUST PUTTING IT DOWN, HAVING MY BAND AROUND ME AND JUST SINGING.

JAMES WALSH: HAVE YOU STARTED WRITING WITH YOUR GUITARIST SAM?

MATTHEW: NOT YET, BUT THAT WILL HAPPEN. I'LL WRITE WITH ANYBODY REALLY. I'VE HAD MY MIND TOTALLY BLOWN BY HIP-HOP IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, SINCE I MOVED FROM HOME IN ABERGAVENNY TO A MORE COSMOPOLITAN CITY, NOTTINGHAM. MY FLAT-MATE ROGER AND ALL HIS FRIENDS ARE REALLY INTO HIP-HOP AND HE'S ALWAYS PLAYING IT IN THE HOUSE. IN ABEGAVENNY ALL I HAD WAS WOOLWORTHS, AND CARDIFF WAS 45 MINUTES AWAY, SO ALL I GOT INTO WAS PRETTY MAINSTREAM MUSIC. I MEAN, IT WAS GOOD MAINSTREAM; THE WHO, MARVIN GAYE, THE BEATLES, BOWIE. YOU KNOW, CLASSIC STUFF BUT OBVIOUS. I'D NEVER EVEN HEARD OF NICK DRAKE BEFORE I GOT A RECORD DEAL. IT WAS AFTER I RECORDED MY FIRST SONGS THAT SOMEONE SAID THAT I SOUNDED A BIT LIKE NICK DRAKE, AND NOW I'VE HEARD IT I LIKE IT, BUT NICK DRAKE IS NICK DRAKE. IT'S NOT WHAT I'M ABOUT. I LIKE THE GUY OUT OF FAIRPORT CONVENTION'S GUITAR PLAYING, RICHARD THOMPSON. I HIT FOUR RUNS OFF HIM ACTUALLY, LAST YEAR. I PLAYED CRICKET FOR PARLOPHONE AND THE FIRST BALL HE BOWLED I HIT FOUR RUNS OFF HIM. HE DIDN'T DESERVE THAT! 05/12/2001

VIBE - 29 JANUARY 2002
http://www.vanderbilthustler.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/01/29/3c55c1c84c671
Matthew Jay follows indie footsteps of David Gray and Elliot Smith.
It would be easy to compare Matthew Jay to Nick Drake, the deceased '60s era founder of the somber-folk sound, but it would not be accurate.
Just as the whole reflective indie pop sound of Elliott Smith, David Gray and others is getting a little old, along comes Jay.
In contrast to his melancholy counterparts, Jay's music, although not always about joyful subjects, is uplifting.
Not to say that it is the best, or even one of the better albums of its type, but a listen to Jay's Draw is definitely not a waste of time.
Jay is the son of two folk musicians from England. As a child, Jay was capable of playing the bass guitar at age 10. He toured various clubs even at that young age.
Jay's 11 song LP is a psychedelic, lighthearted trip. Although many of his songs are definitely upbeat, he freely moves to more solemn material.
Jay delves into a somber sound in "Please Don't Send Me Away." In this song, Jay tells the story of a man trying to get into heaven who has neither hurt anyone nor done anything positive.
Jay sings, "I did no harm, I helped no one ... please don't send me away, I want to come in."
Many other songs on Draw tackle the usual more jocular subjects of love, relationships, etc.
In "Let Your Shoulder Fall," an emotional folk-pop song that highlights Jay's upfront sound, he proclaims his fondness for someone. "I'm coming for your love today/ It's lucky I should come this way/ I'm loving how I think about you now."
Such subject matter has been done before, yet Jay's semi-trippiness and upfront delivery help remove him from the myriad of other songwriters.
One impressive part of Draw is its obvious psychedelic influence. Strangely distorted guitars and peculiar background noises, especially on instrumental track "Molasses," add an atmosphere of relaxation and emotion that ties in quite well with his soothing voice.
Jay's psychedelic influence is also highly noticeable on "A World Away."
Jay's debut certainly shows a lot of promise for his future works. Although a lot of his material feels like it has been done many times before, his distinct jovial twist on the mellow singer-songwriter type is quite appealing.
Nick Mole. Staff Writer.

Signed to Food Records in 2000 (the home of Blur) he soon started playing numerous gigs around London and started his recordings that soon became his debut Album called 'Draw'.

The album starts with the 'rebellious' but sophisticated tune, 'Four Minute Rebellion', with the Acoustic sound instantly capturing its audience. 'Let Your Shoulder Fall', Jay's second song on the album and first single, soon grabs you with its catchy tune and filled bass line. Other songs on the album prove Jays' lyrical expert