Some of you reading this may or may not have heard of today’s offering. But chances are that by the end of the album, you’ll be asking yourselves why not.
Two things that are hallmarks of great releases are those which push the proverbial envelope and those which intentionally or unintentionally display a level of purity like Beautiful Machine – the new album from Matt Boroff. And listeners will hear both of those herein. Right away, Matt shows is lack of fear in bringing his voice to the forefront of the music. No hiding behind reverb for this guy. Not even Numan-esque effects. Bands like Black Angel or The Awakening might come to mind in this regard as well as in some of the approach of the tracks.
Matt is all across the board and yet under the same dome with this new one – his fourth album, in fact. Moreover, I’m not quite as interested referencing artists old tracks because new listeners have to become new listeners at any given point and we like to approach these reviews as a new listener. Now…. herein we have elements of modern and 80s electro, industrial, alt rock. I think even his sharing the stage with Nirvana came through with some of the points in a track like “Let It Come Down.”
And then comes “Reverie,” an instrumental track that speaks louder inside of two minutes with a piano-driven melody than most of the previous eletro-driven cuts that precede it. But “Cautionary Tales” is probably the album’s highlight for us with it’s Outside-era Bowie-esque apocalyptic feel. In the final track, Matt says…. “We are guilty of future crimes.” Well, yeah… if we don’t pay attention to records like this.
For fans of David Bowie, Gary Numan, 80s/90s electro
Check out the music video for “So Many Personalities Ago” by Matt Boroff:
“Beautiful Machine” by Matt Boroff track listing:
1. Beautiful Machine
2. Trust
3. So Many Personalities Ago
4. Let It Come Down
5. Echo Chamber
6. Reverie
7. Cautionary Tales
8. Tribal Days
9. Exit
10. World Without Pain
11. Future Crimes
Fans can find Matt Boroff at the following locations: