We are very excited to bring you an exclusive listen to the new single from Matt Ward entitled ‘Nobody Told Me’. Pedal steel guitars tremble and shimmer over a thundering rhythm section and Ward’s vocals are yearning and soft as they deliver a brillant anthemic alt country tune that canters along with an indelible melody.
‘Nobody Told Me’ was inspired by the famous Maggie Smith poem Good Bones which is about how we have to shepherd ourselves/kids/loved ones through life, focusing on the positives of life (whilst also noting there is a dark side to life). Ward explains:
The writing of the song began with a chord progression that I’ve been sitting on for a while and really loved. I heard and felt the need to sing the hook “nobody told me” repetitively at the end of each line and I knew it was going to be catchy, in line with a rambunctious Neil Young & Crazy Horse mood!
I then came across the Maggie Smith poem and its theme seemed to fit the line “nobody told me. The lyrics are all mine and are a take on the light and shade of life. Writing the song was one of those moments where the words just flow from somewhere special.
Indeed the lyrics are beautifully expressed:
Heart of darkness half the time
But nobody told me
Leaves still wither on the vine
But nobody told me
Eyes wide open seeds we sow
But nobody told me
Trying to find the decent bones
But nobody told me
There is a studied poignancy in the expression that is carried by a sparkling instrumentation that bleeds emotion with its crystalline guitars. There is a graceful Jimmy Webb pop delicacy that has touches of REM and Springsteen shimmering through the country twang with an antipodean burnish that recollects The Triffids or Paul Kelly.
This is dreamy ethereal stuff. Often classed as Americana, I think there is sufficient argument for the development of an specific antipodean thread that captures the cloudless skies and the rich red earth. Ward , from Adelaide, recorded his last album in Texas and now he’s just started recording the follow-up in Tasmania with Matt Fell and in Adelaide with his band The Rising Sons.
‘Nobody Told Me’ is out on Friday and can be pre-saved here.
