Matthew Holtby does not go gently on his powerful new EP Goodbye Song — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The grounded Ontario pop-rocker has been slowly adding to his collection of singles for the past two years. Working with producer Michael Phillips, the pair have been digging out the sounds Holtby creates on his acoustic guitar with the help of his bandmates, best friends and even his father. For this EP, Holtby trades his usual stripped-back acoustic sound for something bigger, bolder and brasher.
It’s a sound introduced on the leadoff track A Certain Place In Time. The tune begins with a shivering fiddle courtesy of Port Hope’s Manja Horner. But the song soon crashes and implodes before old friend-turned-new bandmate Ken Kucharic does his very best David Gilmour impression on guitar. The hushed vocal is combined with a massive backing band that takes the listener on a trip that rolls like thunder and crashes like the sea. References to nature and weather come to life with lines like “the green fades from leaves and trees carry weight of falling snow.” There is a picture being painted and the pallet is vivid and explosive.
The title track and second song is a more straightforward pop-infused folk-rocker that was written while he and his family were living over the garage at his in-laws’ home two years ago while house-shopping. One day he woke up to a melody he dreamed of the night before. “I grabbed my Norman, sat up and the song fell out of me,” he says. The result is Goodbye Song, a punchy little pop-rocker that wouldn’t sound out of place on your playlist next to The Lemonheads or Matthew Sweet.
The final song on the EP is People I Admire, a semi-biographical glam-rocker that touches on loss, combined with a playful saxophone, rollicking piano and more than a dash of Marc Bolan.
Check out the Goodbye Song EP below, watch the lyric videos above, and say hello to Matthew Holtby on his website, Instagram and TikTok.
