MATTHEW GOOD plays the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Thursday and Friday (November 3 and 4). See listing. Rating: NN
Vancouver alt-rocker Matthew Good returned to long-time producer Warne Livesey for his ninth full-length (fifth post-solo career). It’s an orchestral affair complete with viola, bassoon, cor anglais and horns, and Good has said that the two discussed making a project like it years ago while mixing 1997’s Underdogs.
Parts of it sound lifted from a gothic rock opera, with quieter piano pop interludes in between. And the lyrical themes – apocalypse, war, the music industry – aren’t as immediate as on Good’s Vancouver or Hospital Music.
It’s cerebral rock, without the roll that makes you move. Only Zero Orchestra might make you dance. Good’s vocals are overwrought, and the lead guitar parts meander more than inspire. It’s an ambitious project that fails to deliver.
Top track: How It Goes
