Matthew Dear: Soul on the Dancefloor

By Alif Omar Mahfix  •  04 Jul 2012 in Music

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Electronic avant pop act Matthew Dear is set for the release of his full-length Beams on Ghostly, a label he helped establish. While it won’t be out till late August this year, we can’t help but think he is already setting up himself as something of an electronic troubadour. His time on the dancefloor years back and his affinity for traditional songwriting seem to have coalesced in his latest incarnation, embracing the rhythm of dancefloor in the beats and baring his soul in the singing.

‘Her Fantasy’, off the album, has Matthew churning out the synthetic in its whistles and squiggles tethered to his robotic vocals before the emotions show in full self-awareness; “And believing that love was a cost worth a witness and seeing a larger machine?” Then there’s the Brian Eno-David Byrne collabo-channeling ‘Crimewaves’, which features sing-songy vocals coupled with stabs of electronica that’s even reminiscent of old school Thomas Dolby.

All the name dropping could come off as lazy references on our part, but these acts were genuine influences to Matthew Dear’s early education in music. EDM is a name that is too pop-addled and rave festival-pandering these days, it only makes sense for a subversive inversion of the genre to arrive.

Beams is set for release on 28 August 2012. Find out more on him at www.matthewdear.com.