Inspiration for writing music takes all forms although a spot of spring cleaning might seem a bit unlikely…unless you’re London based indie folk artist Mark Mathews, who took exactly this route to writing his most recent EP, Fizzy Beasts. I hasten to add that the aforementioned spring cleaning led to a decision to sell a seldom used guitar – of course this meant one last strum and, one chord let to another and in no time at all, the first song, ‘Not Falling‘ was written. The following five tracks came a bit later, still from this same guitar (acoustic, bought for a 2017 West Coast American tour)… and the guitar is still with Mark.
Once in the studio with producer Andrea Lepori, the intention was to record the EP with just acoustic guitar and vocal but as the recording process got under way, it became clear that these songs needed more, hence the indie/folk sound with a dash of electronics we hear on Fizzy Beasts.
The stand out track for me is ‘Down Under Girl‘, a sweet love song with a gentle start that gives way to a storming track with some lovely lyrics: “she found in me who I could be” and “she flipped my world” – as perfect a line you could wish to find in a love song. ‘Down Under Girl’ follows on from ‘Not Falling’ which is a toe tapping song that could be described as fizzy, having a furious upbeat tempo, with an intriguing Dylanesque midsection.
‘Flowers Still Grow‘ offers a background of huge variety of sound, so much so that you spend the entire song working out what sounds you’re listening to – one listen isn’t enough so I found myself immediately going back to listen again. I was locked into it enough to play a third time too. ‘Girl with the Raven Hair‘ is another beautiful song, beginning with a long, slow intro that gradually builds the tempo. It’s very good.
Fizzy Beasts is very catchy, yet interesting music making and you’ll want to play it again and again.
Mark is an artist who writes a lot of music and who likes to play live as much as possible – his advice to aspiring musicians is about exactly that:
“Write loads, play loads and just get better as you go, but get going on it.”
Fizzy Beasts was released in April 2019. Get your copy here.
Follow Mark at:
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