Matthew Edwards & the Unfortunates New Track From 'Folklore'
- Written by Marky Edison
Sonically both English bed-sits and American big skies are audible on ‘Folklore’ by Matthew Edwards & the Unfortunates, accompanied by wry melancholia, literate lyrics, avant-garde flourishes and a general air of louche European sophistication. Although hard to pin down, ‘Folklore’ can loosely be described as ambitious, beautifully-crafted baroque indie rock, where cellos, theremin, harpsichord, farfisa and clanging guitar all find their space. Reminiscent of Robyn Hitchcock, The Go-Betweens and Nick Cave, the album is sophisticated and educated, but also not ashamed to flash a little angry muscle.
“After 20 years living in California I returned to Birmingham and ‘Folklore’ is the chronicle of that return”, explains Matthew. The band are based in Birmingham UK and San Francisco, and the album was recorded in Leamington Spa in England by John A. Rivers (Felt, Dead Can Dance, Denim, Buzzcocks) and in San Francisco by Robert Taylor.
As with the band’s critically-acclaimed first album The Fates, the Unfortunates are again joined by a top-rank supporting cast, this time consisting of Dagmar Krause on vocals (Slapp Happy, Henry Cow, Kevin Coyne), Fred Frith on guitar (Robert Wyatt, Brian Eno, John Zorn) and keyboards from Eric Drew Feldman (PJ Harvey, Captain Beefheart, Pixies, Sparklehorse). All songs were written by Matthew Edwards except ‘Song of Songs’, on which Matthew was aided by drummer Derick Simmonds.
Listen to ‘Lazy' here
Matthew Edwards & the Unfortunates play the following live dates:
Sunday 14th May @ Come Down & Meet the Folks, The Apple Tree, Clerkenwell
Saturday 3rd June @ Centrala, Digbeth, Birmingham
Friday 1st September @ Moseley Folk Festival
US dates in Autumn 2017 & UK festival dates to be announced
