Someday We Will Foresee Obstacles/A Whisper and a Sigh

Someday We Will Foresee Obstacles/A Whisper and a Sigh
Label: V2
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Elegant and elegiac, the double-album overload of Syd Matters’ U.S. debut comes close to being too much of a good thing … close, but not quite. As it is, the 23 songs spread across these two albums (originally released separately in France) are a gorgeous and nearly perfect demonstration of what one slightly nutty songwriter with beautiful ideas can do with the most minimal of instrumentation. Although Syd Matters (né Jonathan Morali) uses all sorts of different tools – mellotron, violin, electronics, acoustic and electric guitars – he doesn’t use too many at one time. Like a cross between the obscured introspection of Nick Drake (without the total downerism), the luscious arrangements of Cardinal (without the saccharin) and the cracked tonality of early, atmospheric Soft Machine (without Robert Wyatt’s sick-cat vocals), Syd Matters is a one-man band that doesn’t try too hard to make up for absent members.

This article appears in Aug 10-16, 2005.