Q&A Scene: Track-by-Track with Matty T Wall and his latest release, Blue Skies!

Here we go …

 1. Burnin’ Up Burnin’ Down

The roar of a revved-up muscle car kick starts a road-ready intro as staccato horns punctuate a tough rocking litany. With bravado power chords and slippery lead lines raising the temperature by measurable degrees, the lyrics convey an unabashed proclamation and a sultry invitation to a rocking and rough-edged encounter.

2. Am I Wrong

A hyperkinetic stomping rhythm underscores the plaintive and direct question. Stripped to its bare essence, the track sails and smokes with a tightly coiled rhythm section supporting a string bending, riff driven core that shakes, shivers, suspends and sustains in a classic blues incantation of lying, cheating and double-dealing.

3. Love Gone Away

From the downbeat, the legato guitar echoes a love departed and the hollow longing that follows in its wake. Delicate arpeggios and a somber organ line support a raw and connected vocal lamentation that gives way to a searing guitar solo to communicate wordlessly in a six-string language of longing and loss.

4. Scorcher

An audacious guitar declaration that could serve as a master class in the fine art of picking. A runaway rockabilly snare drum propels the band as the whammy bar on the electric guitar leads to a mind-bending solo of stunning technique. Keep the fire extinguisher handy – this track might melt the walls.

5. Blue Skies

In a narrative that will be familiar for anyone who has taken a leap of faith, a girl is preparing to leave her turbulent home life to embark on a road of promise. The song works across multiple sections: Plaintive and expressive verses and choruses open into a symbolic soundscape of sunshine, light handclaps and gospel vocals.

6. This Is Real

Above the ripples of gentle and rhapsodic guitar chords, lyrics frame an earnest and simple treatise on the expressive connection between two souls. With soft breaths of organ and subtle vocal harmonies in orchestration, the song soars to an emotional crescendo with a commanding guitar lead revealing power and purpose.

7. Voodoo Chile

With supernatural swagger, this recasting of the dark and classic (penned by Jimi Hendrix) distills backwoods superstitions and ominous overtones into a fully-realized and mightily aggressive guitar opus of force and focus replete with frantic wah-wah and whammy bar effects that pay respectful homage to the song’s originator in a masterful climax of furious feedback.

8. Broken Heart Tattoo

Hard rocking and big bopping: a tall tale of treachery recited by the observant musician raconteur over a walking bass line. One night, two protagonists, two gunshots and a deadly duel over a girl with the self-referential trademark: “You could tell this girl was going to be trouble,” intones the narrator.

9. Smile

Angelic chords and celestial guitar strings illuminate a delicate melody and a hushed and reverent performance. As the track builds, the single note-electric guitar becomes an eloquent voice of revelation. With a jazz-inflected coda, the luminous song resolves with hope and optimism.

10. Hellhound On My Trail

Thunder and hail at the crossroads evoke the spirit and channeling the soul of the legendary blues innovator Robert Johnson. Augmented by stark percussion, this minor key acoustic rendering recasts one of the master’s best-known classics in a new and edgy light; a harrowing tale framed with an ill-omened intensity.

For more information:

Grab your copy now!

WA blues guitar slinger Matty T Wall announces that he’ll be legging it over to the east coast this August in support of his new single ‘Broken Heart Tattoo’.

Hard rocking and big bopping, ‘Broken Heart Tattoo’ tells a tall tale of treachery over a walking bass line – one night, two protagonists, two gunshots and a deadly duel over the girl with the self-referential trademark. The song was inspired by the track ‘Be Cool’ by Albert Collins, another story that ends in a gunshot.

The animated video for ‘Broken Heart Tattoo’ was created by the team at Jumbla in Melbourne and they’ve put together suitably rough, dark, and violent, almost Tarantino-esque imagery in keeping with the murderous themes of the tune.

 ‘Broken Heart Tattoo was recorded for the album ‘Blue Skies’, at the Rada Studios in Perth.

Says Matty – “For any interested guitarists out there, the main riff was played on a Santana PRS (signed by PRS himself) and played through a cranked 1969 Marshall Plexi. It has become one of my favourite tones of the album, and started my quest for the perfect Marshall amp.  I originally intended to aim for a “Money For Nothing” type guitar tone, but I am very happy where it ended up”.

CLICK HERE to join Matty’s mailing list and receive your free download of ‘Broken Heart Tattoo’

See Matty live: