BY MARK DARE
Matt Owens performed worldwide for many years with Indie folk legends Noah and the Whale, but his solo works (Way Out West will be his 4th album with the Delusional Vanity Project) have drawn attention to his songwriting expertise, both in terms of Owens having no problem in introducing all kinds of musical feels to his music and, at the same time, covering lyrical themes that not many others do … it’s edgy, compulsive listening and just utterly fantastic!
The album is filled with a variety of styles that encapsulate Americana in a nutshell … and they just knit together perfectly as a collective. There are elements of sludgy southern rock, introspective musings, melodic wanderings and everything in-between.
Joining the DVP on this album are Robert Vincent with his sumptuous harmonica, both co-owners of the Sound Lounge Sutton: Keiron Marshall on guitar and his partner in crime, Hannah White.
Hannah joins Matt on duo vocals on the already released and sublime ‘5 Years Into Marriage’ … a masterpiece describing a marriage past its prime but in which the players still can’t pull the plug.
The other tune already released is the rocking “One for the Grapes” … a tale of a relationship falling apart, but the twin lures of both alcohol and playing the guitar for one half of the pairing are ever present, and overriding.
I’ll not go through every track on this Long Player but suffice to say you definitely will want to listen and bury yourself in some of the most incredible songwriting you’ll have heard for sometime … however I will mention that the album closes out with ‘Twickenham Station’ a retrospective hike down memory lane to his childhood and early influences, and a fitting close to this work of art.
Incidentally, Way Out West is the name of the guitar shop where Owens bought his first electric guitar and (and this is an educated guess) also a track from Owens’ precursor project Little Mammoths in which he shared the stage with Jimmy Besley who is still with him to this day in the Delusional Vanity Project.
To say Way Out West is a masterpiece may sound to some a stretch of imagination, but it really is worth you taking the time to immerse yourself in sublime storytelling / magnificent instrumentation and the sheer musicality of this album and find out for yourselves. Available now!