23. June 2016
Matt York Boston, Texas
I’ll just preface this by saying that literally all the songs on this album are about lost love, the emotions” -Matt York
by Walter Price
Matt York’s release Boston, Texas certainly canvasses the landscapes of “lost love, the emotions” but what I find as intriguing as the songwriters emotional outpours are the tapestries he has woven to support his laments. While most artists highlight, tease and rework influences within their sounds, most stick a specific genre, but York’s album is unique in that it travels so many sonic avenues it is impossible to pigeonhole. Utilizing well placed backdrops as soundtracks as moods change and his stories are worked out.
Matt York is without a doubt a brillant talent and the songwriter stopped by for a track by track Boston, Texas.
Big Fan of Why
This song is about a friend of mine that lives in the Midwest. He always says that he’s had a lifetime of love and loss, and often reminisces about the who, what, when, where and how. But he’s not a big fan of why he’s come into these circumstances.
Let’s go to the Beach
I wrote this one a long, long time ago when I was a fledgling college student. All my friends were in college figuring out their futures and I just wanted to do music and nothing else. The idea of the song was to just pack up, head west and see what came of things. Spend the days at the beach, spend nights doing music and not worry about being broke.
Saw You on Friday
A song about going out on a Friday night, meeting some new people and having a long extended party with people you likely won’t see again but that you had an incredibly fun shared experience with.
Losing Streak
I wrote this song after seeing the movie “Crazy Heart”. I loved the soundtrack that T-Bone Burnett created for that album and Jeff Bridges’ character is somebody that most longtime musicians have either come across or can imagine. I’d been away from music from several years when the movie came out and it really resonated with me. The song is just about a guy having a hard time finding his way.
New to You
This song took me a long time to put together because the hook of the song is the lead guitar part and I was never able to simultaneously play that part and sing it. It’s a song that that we did in the studio and really haven’t played much before or since. The words are just about somebody trying to reinvent themselves in the hopes that their partner will want to be with them. There’s a car dealer here in the Boston area that refers to his used cars that he sells as not used cars but cars that are “new to you”.
Sick of it All
This is just a snippet of a song I’d written in high school. It’s a pretty dark tune and a number of people have told me it’s one of their favorites from the album. I imagine that I probably wrote it after getting dumped in high school but I really don’t remember. I never recorded the song and don’t even remember how the rest of the original song goes but I liked the way it came out.
Tomorrows
This is song about hopefulness. It’s about that day when the balance shifts after a breakup. When things shift from there being no hope in sight to things looking like they are going to be okay. The lines “I’ve got yesterdays until tomorrow” is really just about relying on the fact that there’s been some good stuff in the past and how that can help tide you over in the interim.
I’m Back
This was inspired by a movie or TV show. I honestly don’t remember. However, it was a guy getting out of jail. He was bad news but once he got out, he got hooked up with some money, a car and was “living large”. He went back to see his old girlfriend who had left him when he went to jail to show her how well he was doing and how much he wanted her back.
Love You the Same
This song is two minutes long and it seems like it took me about that long to write. I wanted a ballad to close out the album. The lyrics on the album are oftentimes dark but the music is generally upbeat. In my head, I just thought it’d be cool to end it with an incredibly depressing song. It’s my favorite song on the album and I like the way the video that my wife directed (and that my 13 year-old Weimaraner starred in) portrays that sadness.
