Matthew Smith Group (Tall Texan Records) is the forthcoming album by the ex-Outrageous Cherry songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist. His previous band’s explorations of psychedelia, folk rock, art rock, and bubblegum music span more than 12 albums over nearly three decades. Outrageous Cherry attracted an international cult following and was a fixture in Detroit’s underground art and music culture, but the band ended in 2017 with the passing of lead guitarist Larry Ray.
Matthew’s new group features Outrageous Cherry’s rhythm section of Colleen Burke (We Ragazzi, Smog) on bass and Maria Nuccilli (Deadbeat Beat) on drums, lead guitarist Ava East (Shadow Show), avant-electronic improviser Chris Pottinger (Cotton Museum, Odd Clouds, Slither) on Moog synthesizer, and avant-jazz composer/instrumentalist Molly Jones on saxophone.
Today, Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of the standout track “Others,” a jangly work of psychedelic pop that feels warmly reminiscent of acts ranging from the Beach Boys and Stereolab to Cut Worms. The group leans into that Phil Spector sound with textured and shimmering production and layers of instruments, making for a song that is radiant and flowing in its infectious good vibes and energy. There is a definite ’60s psych-pop element swirling about, but the band also carves out their own sound with the addition of horns. Before you know it, the song fades into the sunset just after the three-minute mark, leaving you wanting more and wondering what this band will conjure up next.
Matthew Smith describes the inspiration and process behind the tune:
“Others” is the first song we recorded for the Matthew Smith Group album, and I think it might have been the first post-Outrageous Cherry song I came up with. All the Outrageous Cherry stuff was written to be played by a 4-piece band with 2 guitars, which was always a reliable way to present a song. Writing for the 6-piece group is different. There are guitars, saxophones, and electronic sounds weaving around each other over the bass and drums. In this new group, I am singing over a sound landscape that reminds me of Gil Evans’ 1970’s records, Eno’s early records, Pere Ubu, Hawkwind, and especially Lou Reed’s STREET HASSLE and THE BELLS. We might be some weird kind of jazz-rock combo, but we are definitely playing rock and roll. There’s also an inescapable Beach Boys influence that kicks in whenever we start singing.
This song evokes all of these sonic landmarks that have been a part of my musical cosmology through the years. The lyrics, scribbled quickly in a notebook one day several years ago, seem to be a flickering mental movie of people coming and going, in and out of rock and roll bands, in and out of relationships, in and out of life in general, and you’re trying to deal with all this stuff and you have to watch your back every second. It’s a bunch of random impressions of situations, but when I first strummed it on the guitar and sang the lyrics, it hit me with an emotional frequency that startled me. I showed the song to Maria, Colleen, Ava, Chris and Molly, and the band arrangement came together quickly. I think the group recorded two takes, and we kept the first one and added backing vocals later. Like all the songs on the record, it was a live performance in a 24-track analog studio with a few overdubs added later. The song opens the record, which makes sense, since “Others” seems to be the song that pulled the group in a particular musical and lyrical direction that was, for me, a new beginning.
LISTEN:
