Matthew Sweet

In Reverse

A concept album that's still amazingly personal

Review Score:

(10/10)
The first I'd heard of Matthew Sweet was Dark Secret, a song he'd written for the soundtrack to teen movie The Craft. From there on I was highly interested in seeing what else this obviously talented singer songwriter had done. From there I heard Girlfriend and eventually wound up buying In Reverse. Due to listening to little of Sweet's earlier material I can't really compare, but judging by his latest effort I would definitely be interested in his back catelogue.

In Reverse plays like a concept album most of the time, something that is evident straight away from the album's design with an inlay that literally is written in reverse. And that's essentially what the album is, a trip back through trippy power chamber pop. What's most admirable though is that despite this concept the album comes across as amazingly personal, with The Beatles and Phil Spector influences being twisted noticeably to suit Sweet's style and lyrics. There are several stand-out songs, and for an album of 14 tracks there's no moment where it flags or the ideas get old. Despite the concept of the album it never plays as the same throughout, with subtle differences between each song. The best song is probably the gorgeous, hummable Hide, a song of hiding yourself from reality even though you know that eventually it will break through. Indeed, this song seems to be symptomatic of the majority of Sweet's lyrics. Knowledge of disappointment and an inability to trust in others as well as yourself and the painful paradow of this equation runs throughout, in particular on Beware My Love, a deliberately ambiguous tune. Other standouts include the angry, but still remarkably tuneful, Write Your Own Song, which was probably written in answer to the negative reviews that Sweet's last album Blue Sky On Mars received. The crowning achievement though, and an excellent finisher, is the 9 minutes plus Thunderstorm, which is really quite stunning and something that many modern musicians wouldn't dare even attempting.

It's a shame that Sweet isn't more popular than he is, although his cult figure status among those who have heard of him, is probably better really. And In Reverse perfectly showcases why anyone would like Matthew Sweet. He's original and interesting whilst not being afraid to borrow from other artists preceding him and making the styles meaningful and new in a modern context. This is jangly pop at its very best and to say that an artist with an already well-established career and a long back catelogue his later material is amazingly accessible to new fans. This surely gives him a standing to become a real cult figure of the 00's, as well as his reputation for the Girlfriend album.

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