Actress Hands’ main man goes it alone and makes his best record yet. You may not have heard of Matt Eaton yet, and God knows he may never break through into any form of mainstream success but it’s not for the want of trying when he makes such beautiful pastoral pop music as contained here. Bizarrely named, ‘Finish Your Chips’, people who are getting a boner about Bon Iver right now should seriously check this out.
Humble and illuminating Eaton comes across like a withered travelling man. If they ever do a re-make of ‘The Littlest Hobo’ then this album would be the perfect soundtrack to it. Imagine our hero, setting off on his journey, “nothing ventured nothing gained”, Eaton sings on the sparse but beautifully orchestrated opener, ‘Can’t Believe What I’m Hearing’, before confessing it’s time to move on to the next town as he “…can’t find the rhythm to settle down to” in one of the albums many highlights, ‘Everyone’s Got To Fallen Into Line’. I’ll drop the littlest hobo thing now but with titles such as ‘As Long as the Road’, ‘The Mud in the Guard Dogs Claw’ and ‘Going My Way’ I think without question Eaton has been watching some old re-runs.
‘I Knew I Was Right’ and the aforementioned, ‘Going My Way’ are particular highlights, there’s something quite raw and honest on display here, and although both tracks build up with subtle brass, strings and layered vocals, the bare bones of the songs are gently strummed and very organic, Eaton sounds like a broken man when he sings, “It ain’t easy getting lifts on A-roads, traffic’s sparse and going too fast, It’s all going my way, I just want to see her again”. Honestly I got through a whole pack of tissues to this one, and ok I shed a tear watching The Green Mile so maybe I’m not the best judge but I’m telling you this song could do some serious damage to even the burliest of men’s reputations. Eaton’s crafted a smoking warm log of a record, one which you can come home to every night and sit in front off and let warm your cockles, it’s stunning, beautiful and majestic. Go on and treat yourself.
//Alan Souter