Syd Matters: New Single, Album and UK Shows
aaamusic | On 11, Jan 2011
Parisian five-piece Syd Matters, who release their album ‘Brotherocean‘ through Because Music on 14th Feb, have confirmed two UK shows inMarch. Winners of Les Inrockuptibles’ Best Newcomers Award, the band were encouraged to make a quick return following the success of their shows supporting Yann Tiersen in November. Taken from the forthcoming album, single ‘River Sister‘ will be released on 6th March.
March
Tues 1st – London – Borderline
Weds 2nd – Brighton – Komedia (supp. Anna Calvi)
Tickets available from Ticketweb.co.uk and 08448 472465.
“‘Brotherocean’ is a translation of Frère Ocean, a trilogy by Romain Gary, which I really loved” enthuses frontman Jonathan Morali. “The title was chosen because the theme of the album is family and also the sea. I liked the idea of an invented word like ‘Swordfishtrombones’ by Tom Waits or ‘Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot’ by Sparklehorse. I think an invented title adds more personality and it was a combination of two words that defined what I wanted to say really well.”
It’s a title that, like Syd Matters harmonically rich, subtly textured music, sows seeds in the listener’s imagination rather than imposing a fixed interpretation. “I always want to leave that space, it should never be too explicit,” adds Morali.
There’s been nothing forced about Syd Matters’ ascent in France, where they’re now admired by figures as significant as Dominique A and Yann Tiersen. In the beginning, Morali was a student making music when he wasn’t in lessons. He sent a demo to the magazine Les Inrockuptibles and, two months later, they called to let him know they were setting up a forum to showcase demos from new bands and wanted to feature a couple of his songs. “We’ve been lucky enough to be able to build something, starting off in small clubs, in bars, and then bigger stages and now we’re the most popular we’ve ever been in France,” reflects Morali. “It’s been quite a natural progression, which is something that’s harder and harder to achieve these days.”
