One of our own has gotten rave reviews stateside, and his deal with UK based label Domino Records has Big Inner set to be distributed worldwide. Read on to check out the waves Matthew E. White has been making lately.
This past weekend, London's The Observer ( the world's oldest Sunday newspaper) had this to say about Big Inner:
"....White must be an extremely busy guy, because this hirsute, portly, softly spoken man has become one of 2013's unlikeliest success stories on the back of his first solo album, Big Inner. It crept out in the States last year, getting a bigger issue through Domino last month, and is the kind of record that causes people to swoon."
White told The Observer that the genre of his music tends to confuse people: "If there was a badass black dude singing, it would be soul music every day of the week. But it's not. It's a white dude who can't really sing that great."
White is a humble and loyal guy who represents Richmond, VA whenever he goes, and it is being noticed. Check out what Pitchfork's Steven Hyden had to say about his new album:
Big Inner rated 8.1.
"With his background in jazz arranging and natural grasp of American roots music, the native Virginian has positioned himself at the head of a corps of young and veteran musicians--including Bon Iver's Reggie Pace, Phil Cook of Megafaun, and David Hood--determined to revive long-lost record-making traditions in the service of re-imagining psychedelic music as gospel hymns."
And here's what Hyden had to say about Spacebomb Records.
"Big Inner is the first product of Spacebomb, a production entity and record label with a house band composed of White, bassist Cameron Ralston, and drummer Pinson Chanselle at its core. (There is also a sizeable horn and string section, and a choir.) The idea is to bring artists to White's Richmond, Virginia, headquarters--essentially the attic of a house on the west side of town--and arrange their songs in the mold of velvety 70s soul, laidback New Orleans funk, and cosmic country-rock, with a special emphasis on vintage-sounding instrumentation and sweaty intimacy."
All this press and 2013 has just begun. Stay tuned--hopefully Big Inner, Matthew E. White, and Spacebomb Records will only get bigger from here.
You can read our full interview with Matthew E. White HERE.