After hearing the sounds of Matt Henshaw's voice you can tell his vocal influence is that of soul and blues. You can hear the journey he has been on, in not only his voice but also in his extremely talented acoustic guitar playing. His talent as taken the independent scene by storm and listening to his music you will find out why. Matt was awarded Best Male at the independent music awards. The tea loving singer/songwriter from the midlands is definitely on his way up to higher heights of success with a busy festival period for 2015. Easier the single, is a guitar driven track with Matt's voice making a statement. Your find your feet tapping away and the lyrical melody content being stuck in your head. Your want to listen again and again. Easier is available to pre-order now and its official release is September 10th. Also don't forget to check out Matt's other original soul laced music found on his website. His voice evoking emotions you never thought you could feel, especially on the track "It Ain't Easy". Show support for this talented independent music artist and follow him "on his way up" on a musical journey to higher heights. :) Neal.
Matt Henshaw is a singer-songwriter from the UK. He does these tender acoustic pop songs that are rather minimal yet, due to his powerful voice, feel much larger than the sum of their parts. His song “It Ain’t Easy” immediately brought the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson to mind, specifically when Robinson crooned the hit “She Talks to Angels.”
Henshaw writes music meant for drowning in on those nights when you’re bitter or lonely, looking back on all the lovers you’ve let slip through the cracks. His voice is dripping with sentimental emotion and, as Nick Hornby wrote, “Sentimental music has this great way of taking you back somewhere at the same time that it takes you forward, so you feel nostalgic and hopeful all at the same time.”
I chose to quote Nick Hornby in regard to the music because, when interviewing Matt, I found common ground in our love for Hornby’s High Fidelity and, much like its anti-hero Rob, we have a neurotic obsession with making Top Five lists. Some people can crank out a Top Fiver like it’s nothing, without any hesitation. But those clowns aren’t the true obsessives. They’re the lucky ones. They’ll never struggle over deciding which film, book, movie or actress on any given list gets that fifth spot. When you view works of art with such an intensity that you feel as close to them as your own friends, eliminating one of your favorite films from the list feels like that friend, I mean film, to fuck off. Now you don’t mean for it to fuck off. You love that film. But deep down you know it warrants a sixth spot and not the fifth. But you’re not making top ten lists, just five, so you have to be harsh. Ruthless. This is the neurotic, perhaps unhealthy, nature of being a Top Five lister.
I wrote down my Top Five list of films:
Black Snake Moan
The Place Beyond the Pines
American Beauty
Buffalo 66
Girl, Interrupted
— then awaited his list:
The Godfather
Midnight Cowboy
Wall-E
Fight Club
An Education
But he’s a musician so, “Fuck it,” I thought, “Let’s get into the heart of this thing. Time for the Top Five that would keep a musician up at night,’ wondering if he should swap one choice out for another. “Matt, what are your top five personal favorite albums? Not what you consider the five greatest of all time but rather the five that mean the most to you.”
“To limit me to five is almost like punishment,” he replied.
This guy gets it.
Definitely Maybe by Oasis. “It was the first record I bought, it went straight to number one in the UK album chart on my seventh birthday and changed my life forever.” I appreciated this answer because the song “Supersonic” is on this album and it is one of the first songs that made me realize vague lyrics (which essentially mean nothing) can indeed get me to feel something. A great song allows you the space to project your world onto it.
Revolver by The Beatles. “I could’ve honestly just made a Top Five of Beatles records but this is always my go-to favorite from the Fabs. All four of them shine on there. Some of Paul’s best tunes, definitely one of George’s and what an amazing opener, Ringo doesn’t get any more Ringo than on Yellow Submarine.” He also nerds out a bit, in the best way, when talking about the song “Tomorrow Never Knows:” “That’s one of John’s finest moments. He wanted George Martin to make him sound like a Tibetan mountain goat.”
Stanley Road by Paul Weller. “I’m not sure how many people in the States will know this one but, for me, as a young kid growing up in the ‘90s in England this one formed a lot of my sensibilities. An amazing record from the bloke from The Jam to most people.”
Otis Redding Sings Soul. Matt said he was “blown away” when he found out that album was recorded in 24 hours on a two or four track tape-recorder. He expounds on the album for a bit, and concludes that it is “the greatest soul record and a beautiful homage to the greatest soul singer, Mr. Cooke.”
Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. What hasn’t already been said about this album? Matt recommends checking out a reggae cover version of this album by a group called Easy Star All-Stars.
That concluded our Top Five discussion. I asked him a mix of things on his songwriting process but what I’ll leave you with is Henshaw quoting one of my favorite guitarists. “Songs come to me pretty quickly. I have no idea where from. Keith Richards describes songwriters as people all fishing from the same stream, and occasionally one of us will pull one out, all hoping for the best one.”
