Matt Quinn
Album: Broom Abundance
Label: HeBe
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.mattquinnmusic.co.uk/

Matt Quinn has been in the background of the folk scene for a fair while now, backing up Dogan Mehmet and Gavin Davenport so it is nicely to finally have him in the limelight of his own album. I first heard Matt's squeezebox talents on the 'Banquet of Boxes' collection and felt it was worth seeing what his individual work was capable of.

He kick starts his release with his own a-capella version on 'The Nobleman & the Thresherman' which, for me, came as an unexpected surprise as I thought all of his work was going to be box based. As it happens it was a nice surprise as the song was well sung a very pleasant.

He does mix up his album with a couple of vocal tracks including 'Green Broom', 'The Week Before Easter' and my personal favourite 'Norwich Gaol'. All of these tunes are nicely sung traditional tunes that make you want to close your eyes and picture the story being told.

The rest of the album comprises of what we would expect, squeezebox sets. Each tune is gentle on the ears and gives us exactly what we wanted from the album. Some of the tunes are foot tapping, others are more soothing, but all are fine examples of using a box properly.

My favourite piece on the album is the final tune 'Katie the Conqueror' where we get a delightful merge of all of Matt's talents as the only tune to have both his vocals and his melodeon. The story itself is amusing and finishes the album on a high, leaving me personally wanting more.

A great album, I hope Matt does not take too long to release another!

Paul Rawcliffe