Matt York’s new Americana roots album Gently Used is loaded with perky instrumentation and chirpy, twangy vocals. York adorns his songs with such elements while structuring them into large than life portraits expressing high emotions and flinty determination.
Opening cut “If You Want Love” finds York singing in a chirpy, country flavored manner. His charming, homey vocal finds a good home amid a pretty, wafting pedal steel line, a twisty rockabilly lead guitar, and a bouncy fiddle. That tuft of rootsy, rustic sound is made up a lot of comfortable, colorful notes that weave into music as sweet as it is fun. This is music you can sing along riding down the highway on a cross country road trip. It expands and become more detailed and even more celebratory as it moves on down the road.
“Up And Down” gets its flavor from York’s chirpy singing and a shiny brittle lead guitar phrase. Voice and instrument both caress the lines they play as the piece moves through different changes in tempo, dynamics, and chord progressions. By this point in York’s album it is clear he’s an artists who can architect a wide machine of music with many moving parts keeping it aloft and energetic. It’s a joy to hear his vocal sustains and the floating feeling that comes along with it.
Title track “Gently Used” gets a thicker, more soulful application of York’s smooth vocal. He puts a lot of soul into every word. Meanwhile, a strong piano presence from Dillion Warnek just beneath his voice taps out all the lonesome yearning this number yearns to express. It’s a treat for the ears to hear that voice and that piano in the space left wide open by sparse accompaniment.
Beautiful drifting guitar lines usher us into the wide, pretty landscape of “Baby Doll.” York’s voice finds a good home amid the rustic, out on the range atmosphere created by the guitar dovetail. His sensitive expression of loneliness, buttressed by his twangy timbre, makes one feel what his song is about.
“Let’s Try Failure” eases its way down the lane with a subtle yet persistent rhythm section holding the rudder. Over that nimble groove is a sweet mellow Joshua Hedley fiddle line wafting in a respectable backdrop. Meanwhile, York’s vocal line travels above with a smooth feel for finding the right spaces in his accompaniment. He only releases enough emotive expression per meter in this mid tempo rocker to keep one glued, ready to receive the next set of lyrics. It is the careful songwriter balance of elements that makes this song standout.
Getting mellow with “Strong Feeling” York sings tenderly in this down tempo, fiddle and acoustic guitar laden tune. His drawling vocal delivery feels homey and rich, the assurance of a man with something to say. And, his personal delivery fits in perfectly with a high pitch backing vocal coo as well as the emotive acoustic notes moving through this sparse landscape.
“Without You” rocks harder as York forces it into ever wider musical expression. Flinty electric guitar, loose, sustained vocals, and a driving rhythm section are the grist for this number. Taylor Hollingsworth’s racing lead guitar notes reach beautiful highs and contrast brilliantly with York’s more rugged delivery. One can feel the urgency of this piece and it’s uncanny how well each instrument and voice weave to create this vibe.
The soft, gentle travel of “Word On The Street” moves to currents from a few acoustic instruments. Its persistent fiddle melody keeps it feeling homey and personal. York’s voice, full of world weariness, eventually widens into bigger expressions of life and the mystery it presents. This song’s considerate growth into a wider, more expressive piece is what keeps one glued to its flexible architecture.
A bleeding guitar melody lead us into “I Know You Love Me.” From there, York’s strong vocal, from ruggedly handsome to a high pitched coo, is filled with confident emotion. This one makes its impression on the listener with a gathering of powerhouse voice and mountainous accompaniment. Likewise, “The Perfect Crime” feels like its moving to a slow, trickling waters (careful drumming from Tim Dinneen while the upper registers feature York soulfully belting out his weepy frustration. His voice become a perfect vehicle for intense feelings, enough dynamics, enough feeling, and enough color and tone, but while tastefully self-restrained.
Close out track “I’m Leaving” is the classiest of the whole. York’s smoother timbre, strongly asserted, seems to leap upward in bounds. His soulful expression takes place alongside Spencer Cullum Jr.’s beautiful meandering pedal steel line. With York’s high voice and that pedal steel alongside, this piece waves like a flag in the wind, a large colorful portrait, a portrait that looms large as it’s born of the huge musical exuberance.
Matt York continues to release these larger than life Americana roots albums, expressions of high emotions, beautifully rendered by tasteful use of voice and instruments. Gently Used, York’s best yet, flies high because he gives each song a freewheeling, unwieldy sense of joy and largeness. Produced by Thomas Wenzi at Bitch Kitty Studios in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, listeners will find these songs irresistible to their ears and to their souls.
