Empyrean Records
2006
Foundation Sounds
About This Album
In the liner notes to 2006's Foundation Sounds, Eric Matthews explains his career strategy as he had planned it prior to the release of his solo debut, 1995's It's Heavy in Here. Over the course of 40 albums, he would gradually strip all traditional pop instrumentation from his productions, proceeding from a full synthesis of pop and classical to an approach that was wholly classical. Like Sufjan Stevens' 50-states project, time was against him from the beginning, and although his second album followed less than two years later, it wasn't until 2005 that another release escaped -- and that a mini-LP. Like that release, Matthews' fourth LP refines his talents for production and songwriting, but it doesn't show him growing as a vocalist. The album is not only self-produced, but the work of a one-man band, with Matthews handling the traditional guitar-bass-drums setup plus piano, and occasionally, woodwinds and brass. (In the notes, he calls it "the purest Eric Matthews statement yet.") Very little has changed in his world -- his songs are beautifully crafted and subtly moving (the deeper chords usually proceeding at a stately pace), and Foundation Sounds is undeniably the work of an arranging and songwriting artisan.
Track List (try tracks 1,4,7,10 and 15)

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