With the release of their previous singles “Patterns” and “Kitsune,” South Devon, UK-based shoegaze/indie rock duo Matthew and Me, comprised of Matthew Board (vocals, guitar) and Lucy Fawcett (drums) hve developed a reputation across the UK for a sound that draws from the delicate soundscapes of Sigur Ros, Mogwai and others; in fact, received airplay on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6, XFM — and as a result, they’ve played some of Britain’s largest festivals including Field Day, Somersault, Port Eliot, and Glastonbury.
The duo’s latest single “Joy” is a slow-burning and expansive song that begins with a lengthy yet delicate and hazy introduction in which Board’s aching falsetto is paired with shimmering and swirling guitar chords and gently padded drumming in a hauntingly gorgeous arrangement that reveals a deliberate and deeply conscientious nature — with each individual note feeling as though it were a painter’s brushstroke adding color and texture to the entire soundscape before concluding with a thundering cacophony (that peters out into a slow fade out). While sonically bearing a resemblance to Sigur Ros and A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve, the song manages to posses an aching and woozy spiritual yearning for something much larger at its core.