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Spectrology

Quiet Loner

Spectrology

Little Red Rabbit
MP3 $9.90

11/08/2010 5060174951459 

LRR 021 

Quiet Loner is the pen-name of songwriter Matt Hill. His recording and live work as Quiet Loner has won him many accolades, including Americana UK Album of the Year 2004 for his debut LP 'Secret Ruler of the World', and he has played with kindred spirits like Lambchop, Joe Pernice, Neko Case and Chris Mills. Inspired by the storytelling traditions of American folk and country music, Hill's songs also have a distinctly British lyrical bite. His new album is a stark and honest collection of performances recorded deep in the English countryside during the big freeze of January 2010. Produced by Mat Martin (Kirsty McGee, The Brute Chorus) it contains eleven songs of experience and wisdom, and features contributions from Inge Thomson (Bonnie Prince Billy, Broken Family Band), Roy Dodds (Fairground Attraction, Hank Wangford) and long term collaborator Alan Cook (Jackie Leven). 'Spectrology' is, as the title suggests, an album filled with ghosts, but not the ghosts of childhood nightmares or gothic fantasy. They are simply the ghosts of the people (living and dead) and the experiences (joyous and scarring) that shape our lives. As the opening song 'As Precious As Life Gets' alludes, the album reflects on decay and death, ultimately shunning them in favour of hope. 'Spectrology' celebrates the cycle of life where renewal, and even redemption are found in the small simple intimacies of life - a morning lie-in, an evening stroll or a slow dance with a lover. Whilst some of the songs hint at darker tougher times ('Ash Ballad' begins with the lines “Let's light us a fire and burn this wretched love/Let's throw it to the flames”) none of this is meant to mark Hill out as a death-obsessed oddball, just a man who has lived to tell a tale. Mat Martin's pared-down production emphasises intimacy, leaving Hill's vocals vulnerable and exposed. The delicate instrumentation is subtle, clever, never intrusive. For a record about ghosts, it's almost calming, rarely intense. Inge Thomson adds whispered spidery vocals and other textures to the songs, weaving webs around the always constant voice and guitar. There is no studio trickery here – all you hear is the raw honesty of the moment, as if Hill is sitting alongside you, telling stories, conjuring images.  
This second album was a long time coming (his debut came out back in 2004). Hampered by serious illness and surgery, delayed by false starts and lost trails, 'Spectrology' is all the better for it. A back-to-basics collection of simple humanity, delivered with a lightness of touch and a gentle humour

Tracklist

  1. #1 About As Precious As Life Gets

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  3. #2 Lucifer

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  5. #3 Counting The Days Down

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  7. #4 Ash Ballad

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  9. #5 Hide And Fear

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  11. #6 A Lonely Heart Just Knows

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  13. #7 Tourniquet

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  15. #8 The First To Fall

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  17. #9 There Go The Ghosts

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  19. #10 Suicide Girls

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  21. #11 Love Is A Risk

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