UK alt-folk ensemble Matthew & The Atlas spent most of last year crafting their new album, Temple, and The Music is stoked to be providing the Australian premiere of the fruits of their labour today, ahead of the LP's release at the end of the week.
The follow-up to widely lauded debut full-length Other Rivers, Temple is 11 tracks of intelligently crafted, delicately executed folk-rock goodness of the calibre we've come to expect from the band, who were, incidentally, the first signing to the UK's Communion label, founded by Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons in 2006.
Centred on musician and songwriter Matthew Hegarty, the album came together with help from bandmate Tommy Heap (bass/keys) and the collaborative assistance of Brian Holl and Eric Hillman, collectively known for their work as electro-folk act-turned-production duo Foreign Fields.
There's a palpable melancholy air to the record, though Hegarty himself is usually a little more upbeat than his songs would hint — "I'm not a particularly depressed person, but the album feels heavy because of some of the content," he said in a statement, going on to allude to a persistent 'black figure' that makes recurrent appearances throughout the album's song list.
The product of a traumatic incident in Paris, when the then-18-year-old Hegarty was stabbed in the stomach during a school art trip, the figure is "something I used to see", Hegarty explained. "I’d have a nightmare and wake up and see this figure standing over my bed."
Give the album a spin above, and check out Matthew & The Atlas' Facebook page for more information.
Temple is out this Friday, 22 April, via Caroline/Communion.
