Day 10: Chamber Pop

Eric Matthews
The Lateness of the Hour

The first thing that struck me about Eric Matthews was his name, which he shares with the older brother of the legendary Boy Meets World protagonist Cory Matthews. Eric Matthews the musician is actually nothing like Eric Matthews the supporting-role TV star, however. Whereas BMW Matthews is a lovable goofball, the former arranger for the seminal chamber pop outfit Cardinal is one impeccably mannered musician, and, if his album covers are reliable indicators, one neatly coiffed dude. If the liner notes for his debut album It's Heavy In Here are to be taken seriously, his self-image is as grandiose as his arrangements--but it's no matter. The singer/songwriter/arranger has a special place in my heart not just because he snubbed his nose at the lo-fi and grunge music that dominated the early to mid 90s to create some of the finest symphonic pop of the decade, but also because I happened to receive both of his first two albums as gifts on one particularly memorable Christmas. I have vivid images of listening to the lush strings, tasteful brass and subtle guitars that fill his records while reading Billy Collins and gazing out the window at the Buffalo snow. For my money, and memories, Matthews' second album The Lateness of the Hour, is his finest. Like all Matthews' records, it is filled with the kind of stately and sophisticated arrangements that define classy for the pop idiom, but it also features many of Matthews finest melodies. If there is a complaint that can be levelled at Matthews, it's that he too often coasts on his skills as an arranger; here though, many of Matthews' most addictive melodic lines are on display, from the elegant verses of "My Morning Parade" to the triumphant trumpet on "No Gnashing Teeth," His vocals are also in top shape--as Stephen Thomas Erlewine put it in his review of the album, they are "almost inhumanly fey and breathy." No wonder then, that every time I hear this record I want to curl up on that Christmas couch of years past, shielding myself with a warm blanket and Matthews' voice.

To hear tracks from The Lateness of the Hour, click here.