Almost three years in the making, a well-known and highly-regarded local singer songwriter has taken his time working on his third album.

Matt Creer released his latest CD, ’Patient Steps’, a 10-track collection of new and original material, last week.

And, as the titles suggests, during the process of recording the follow-up to his successful previous album, ’The Leeward Tide’, Matt decided to take his time and not rush the process.

The end result is a slick collection of songs that build on Matt’s established, very honest and heart-felt song-writing, and one that sees him develop a more rounded, band-orientated sound.

The album, recorded by Gypo Buggane at the Ballagroove studios in Ballasalla, is also a very personal one for Matt, charting a turbulent few years of ups and downs. Starting with the song ’These Walls’, the album journeys through the years, making the process of writing, recording and ultimately releasing the album a very cathartic one.

’There is a story thread that runs through the record, which is basically all the stuff that has happened through my life recently. It is a very autobiographical record which charts the last few years ,’ said Matt.

’It has been a quite tumultuous three years, with a lot of highs and lows. There are certain high points and certain low points that these songs touch on.

’The very last track does resolve everything that happens, and I’ve written the last song as an ideal point at which I want to be at.’

Matt called the album ’Patient Steps’ after song of the same name, and said that it perfectly summed up his feelings on coming through this period and finally having the record finished.

’I liked the idea of how that sounded,’ he said.

’That song is about weathering bad times and working towards good times. I like to use metaphors of hill walking in my songs, and this one uses images of making your way across mountains in storms and getting to the sunny side of the valley from wherever you may be. Also because the record took a long time to finish, it seems like an apt title.

’It’s the penultimate track on the album, and is quite an important one for me too.’

Matt played many of the instruments on the album, including the guitars, drums and trumpet. He was joined by Josephine Evans on the cello, Katie Lawrence on violins and bassist Steve Rowe.

There is also a guest appearance by Davy Knowles, who lends his expertise to two songs, ’A New Horizon’ and ’The Ends of the Earth’.

’It happened two years ago, when Davy came back for his New Year’s shows,’ said Matt.

’I was recording at the time, and Davy popped down to see Gypo at the studio. He offered to put some guitars down for me. He just turned up one evening, with an electric and acoustic, and played all over the songs. It was amazing.’

One element of the new album Matt is particularly happy with is the stunning artwork, provided by Nicola Dixon.

’The idea of the artwork is that is that it follows on from the artwork of my last album, and it has the same boat coming into shore.

’Nicola has put in loads of little references to the songs on the album. The path takes you through to the house on the hill,which is a references to the last song, Kerrowchord. The path itself and the trees are part of the song ’Patient Steps’. The last one featured and I wanted this one to feature hills. It is stunning, really beautiful.

’I sent her the rough songs and she listened to it the whole time while she worked. You can tell she has properly listened to the words, and it is spot on.’

’Patient Steps’ is currently available on download only, from Matt’s Bandcamp page, Amazon and iTunes, priced at £10.

Matt is next performing, along with cellist Josephine, at Foraging Vintners, Port Erin on Saturday, November 10, where he will have CD copies available.

by Mike Wade

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