Here’s the latest video from Richmond indie-soul-gospel-Americana singer-songwriter Matthew E. White, who released the full-length follow-up to his stunning 2012 debut, Big Inner, last month.
Here’s the latest video from Richmond indie-soul-gospel-Americana singer-songwriter Matthew E. White, who released the full-length follow-up to his stunning 2012 debut, Big Inner, last month. The new album’s called Fresh Blood, and single “Rock & Roll Is Cold” might be taken as a witty tongue-in-cheek response to haters, an attempt to deflate the mystique that’s grown around White since his recent success, or any of a number of other oblique statements. What we know for sure, though, is that this funky tune has an irresistibly danceable groove, and a fun chorus on which White repeatedly reminds us that “everybody likes to talk shit.”
The video for “Rock & Roll Is Cold” takes the impression cultivated in some circles of White as an Americana-schooled mystic to a somewhat absurd extreme. After spending the first half of the video wandering seemingly unfazed through a variety of landscapes–everything from snowy forest to sunny desert–White arrives at a rural gas station, where he placidly takes the wheel of a truck whose driver has stepped out to pump gas. Despite gas never making it into the truck, White drives off, serene as ever, and the female companion of the now-jettisoned driver has soon cuddled up next to White as he drives. Clearly this dude has game.
He’s got chops, for sure, and he’ll prove it on an RVA stage for the first time since the March 15 release of Fresh Blood when he takes over The Broadberry for an evening of original music on Saturday, April 11. The show begins at 8 PM, and there are no opening acts listed on the Broadberry’s website, but it seems like White–a man with plentiful connections in the RVA music scene–along with his Spacebomb backing band, can fill up a few hours with some great musical sounds, no problem. Come see what he’s got in store for his hometown audience as he wraps up an American tour and prepares to head over to Europe in a couple of weeks. Tickets are only $10 if you purchase in advance–do so HERE. And if you haven’t picked up a copy of Fresh Blood yet, make sure you do that so you can get familiar with the tunes you’re gonna hear Saturday night. Special 2xLP vinyl edition and regular ol’ CD are both available here, while digital versions can be purchased over here. Get into it.
By Andrew Necci
