A few months back I began research for a Jeff Buckley celebration radio show timed to coincide with the musician’s untimely and tragic death. An obvious place to start was at www.jeffbuckley.com, the official website. On the cover of the site was an album by a singer/songwriter influenced by Buckley. In addition to finding out more about Buckley’s life and career I was also compiling a play-list of artists who influenced him and were influenced by him. So I emailed Jay Matsueda and a few days later received this album.

Jay is not just a singer/songwriter but also a photographer. In fact writing and performing music is but one of several talents he possesses. It took him two years to record this album which on two of the songs includes Jeff Buckley’s wonderful drummer, Matt Johnson. It’s therefore his debut album and a very good one. In fact he may well have to consider his other day jobs…

The album opens with ‘Eat Your Sad’, a brief and moody guitar intro to the album. ‘Atmosphere’ is a contemplative, wandering pop-folk song with a strong melody and the first example of Jay’s distinctive and very expressive vocal. It’s an interesting song as the rhythm is slower than many of the vocal passages. Lyrically, Jay is more than competent with an opening lyric like this: “Listen to the atmosphere and tell me that you cannot hear me whispering to you now.” ‘Midsummer’s Eve’ is a forelorn love song with a beautifully judged instrumental arrangement and vocal which accurately reflects the sad message. ‘Excess Emissions’ ups the pace quite dramatically with a jazz vibe strongly present with Elliott Levin’s great saxophone contribution. ‘Nothing Inside Of Me’ provides an example of Jay’s falsetto voice as he contemplates another lost love. The lyrics here in particular are beautiful: “I could stare in your eyes, till I starve to death, inhale your perfume, till my last breath…” This time a female backing vocal adds to the drama and emotional pull of this lovely song.

‘Don’t Worry (You Already Hurt Me)’ is another highlight of the album and for several reasons. It’s one of the most distinctive songs here with a highly original instrumental arrangement which includes the introduction of a piano that flashes in and out, and just occasionally arrives to stay. It has truckloads of melody and another set of intelligent, sincere and moving lyrics. ‘Go Away’ sees the return of the saxophone and a quite heavy jazz vibe (aided and abetted by Chris Wabich on drums and Larry Steen on bass). Then surprise, surprise, a very jazzy, different and pleasant cover of Sting’s ‘Seven days.’

‘When He Wakes Up’ is pop folk at it’s best with lovely melody and vocal harmonies. Sweet and very nice. But Jay has left the very best till very late in the piece. ‘I Can See You Smile’ is the song I selected to play on our Jeff Buckley show, and in all honesty it was an automatic choice. The sound is far more assertive than anything else here and the vibe as moving as it gets. A superb melody and lyrics is boosted by the most pimple-raising choruses as Jay’s voice soars into oblivion. The final seal on the package is the very rocky closing passage with guitars and drums finally letting loose big-time. Bonus track ‘Taking Time’ closes the album on a more thoughtful, gentle acoustic note.

Vocally Jay reminds me of British folk pop singer/songwriter Peter Sarstedt who had so much success in the late 60’s to early 70’s (remember ‘Where Are You Going My Lovely’?). The album ticks every box while production, which was probably on a restricted budget, is excellent. Jay’s songs also offer a diversity of sound and vibe which is very welcome. If ‘I Can See You Smile’ was released over here in the UK as a single it would fly (given airplay) and I would strongly recommend Jay to send over some copies to a radio plugger here. It’s a stunner! If you want to hear or buy this album you’ll need to visit iTunes for downloads or www.jaymatsueda.com for physical copies, as I don’t think it’s available here - yet.

4/5