MATTHEW HERBERT - ‘ONE ONE’
Published: The Age, A2, 48 Hours, April 24, 2010. 

Matthew Herbert
One One
(Accidental/Inertia)

Matthew Herbert has explored a swathe of unlikely musical terrains in his prolific 15-year career. Working in various guises – including his role as the leader of the incredible Matthew Herbert Big Band – the classically trained UK composer and avant-gardist has fashioned some of contemporary electronic, swing and classical music’s most unusual, subversive and downright beautiful moments. Rarely, if ever, though has Herbert crafted a work so intensely intimate and engaging as new oeuvre One One. A solo record in the keenest sense of the term, the album sees Herbert play every instrument and track every sound across its 46 minutes, even recording his own hushed singing voice for the first time. The results – which tell the tale of a single day in the life of one man – are stunning to say the least, with Herbert condensing ornate, full-bodied arrangements into a series of crystallised, shuffling pieces of pop. In a personally detached, time-poor era, Herbert has created a work that defines itself via proximity and connection.

DAN RULE

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