Matt Owen’s Scorched Earth, available on CD and digital, is released on 30th October, with the ex-Noah and the Whale man at the top of his game. The album follows his critically acclaimed 2019 Nigel Stonier-produced album Whiskey and Orchids.

Owens co-founded the hugely successful Noah & The Whale, touring the world and playing major festivals to thousands. More recently he has been collaborating with the new crop of UK Americana trailblazers such as Elles Bailey and Robert Vincent (who both grace this record), as well as playing in Thea Gilmore’s live band on tour, and on her Number 1 album, Small World Turning.

Recorded at Manchester’s Airtight Studios and Mizpah Studio in Bath, Scorched Earth sees Owens pushing in new directions, both lyrically and sonically, as he takes the production reins on his latest release:

“I began chasing new instruments and sounds that I’d very much distrusted in the past, to see if I could find a use for them. In doing so bass organ pedals, synthesisers, crazy stomp boxes, synthetic drums, and even turntables ended up on the album, and I’ve now fallen in love with all of them.”

The result is an album more aurally dynamic than its acoustic-and-piano-led predecessor, and whilst his signature Neil Young-esque harmonica is still ever present. It is Owens’ song-writing that stands front and centre. Scorched Earth engages across a breadth of subject matter, lyrically rooted in current times.

Scorched Earth will be available digitally worldwide and CDs distributed exclusively via Bandcamp (mattowens.bandcamp.com) and select record stores.

https://www.mattowensmusic.com/