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DVDfever.co.uk – Cerys Matthews: Dont Look Down CD reviewElly Roberts reviews
Rainbow City RecordsEnglish version: 
Welsh version:
- Released: October 2009
- Rating: 10/10
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
Welsh songbird Cerys Matthews,once voted the Sexiest Female in Rock (Melody Maker 1999) must be cockahoop with her new album.
Dont Look Down is a drastic shift from her debut solo, Cockahoop and its follow-upNever Said Goodbye.
Her first album was deeply rooted in her then surroundings in America, when she was married. Her return to Wales (and now London) has brought a much bigger musical vision set in the 60s and occasional dips into her ex-bands repertoire. Theres no attempt to become another Duffy however, though Im sure shes noticed what her compatriot has been up to.After several ups-and-downs following her departure from Catatonia a divorce from Nashville record producer Seth Riddle, a relocation to her beloved Wales and much publicised fling with an Im A Celebrity contestant, this album acts as a form of catharsis.
On the lush 60s Into The Blue she declares, Im not looking for trouble, trouble always finds me, though her spirit remains upbeat.In a recent showing on BBC 1s The One Show, she admitted it was an album of positives, hence Dont Look Down.
Broadening her musical horizons, Matthews includes some huge production values a la Phil Spector found on the cinematic sweep of Arlington Way, a strong single in the making. Those soundscapes are littered masterfully across the entire collection however.
Keeping the retro-feel, theres also nod in the Motown direction on perky dance -bound Smash The Glass, while sweet filigree ballad Aeroplanes veers towards a 68 mood, providing our Cerys with one of her best vocal performances ever.Theres a grittier epic touch to the laidback Spider And The Fly whereas Its Whats Left is mostly chaotic hi-octane pop proving the lady can still pack a punch.
Salutations takes the form of a desperately lonely mum noting a diary to a smooth and stylish sweep and hushed voice: the jewel in the crown. Then she goes all bold and brassy like some of her Catatonia days on punchy A Captain Needs A Ship, with edgy Heron hinting at 40s angst.Matthews has written some great pop singles but this is her best work to date, no question.
The verdict Very, very impressive.
Weblink:cerysmatthews.co.uk
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Arlington Way
2. Into The Blue
3. Aeroplanes
4. Spider And The Fly
5. Its Whats Left, That Makes It Right
6. Smash The Glass
7. Salutations
8. A Captain Needs A Ship
9. Evelyn
10. Oranges To Florida
11. Heron
12. Through A GlassView the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.