'Weightless' is the latest album from Canada's best blues export, New Brunswick resident Matt Andersen. This is actually Matt's eighth studio album, and follows on from 'Coal Mining Blues' which I also reviewed for W & H, and was a gritty top class blues album, which would be hard to beat.
With this release, however, Matt does the unexpected. He pushes the boat out, and adopts a more soulful sound. The opening track is entitled 'I Lost My Way', which mixes blues with soul, and manages to have an excellent gospel chorus. The lyrics tell of a person's remorse at a failing or broken relationship: - “ Stepping outside into the night. Walking for hours, looking for light/ One foot on the pavement, one foot in the grave/ I lost my way...I lost my way”.
One thing about this album, is that rather than grabbing the listener by the collar, it sneaks up and worms its way into their affections, so you are seduced by the sound before you realise it. In places it sounds very similar to Paul Weller's mid 1990s output. Several tracks sound like they could have come from 'Stanley Road' or 'Heavy Soul', and therefore are definitely worth listening to.
The title track, 'Weightless', revisits some of Matt's earlier territory. This is a stonkingly good blues track that boasts some really raunchy harmonica work courtesy of Mike Stevens, and demonstrates really effectively why the harmonica was less a mouth organ, and more a “blaring Mississippi saxophone”! The lyrics here tell a story, that of a man nervous of taking a real leap of faith: - “I feel weightless, on the edge looking around.
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I'm gonna hate this, but it's the only way down/ Wings don't fail me now/ Wings don't fail me now/ I should follow the path less tread/ Not wait for tomorrow, one more night in my bed/ Wings don't fail me now...Wings don't fail me now.”
Overall, this album hits slightly less effectively than 'Coal Mining Blues', but still manages to pack a considerable punch. The track 'Alberta Gold' which appears to refer to the drying up of the oil industry and its catastrophic effect on communities, laments “There's no more boats left in the bay, no young cowboys home on the range.”
With 'Weightless', Matt Andersen has proven that he can go further with the blues than most people, hopefully this album should see him reaching a wider audience in the UK. He certainly deserves it.
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