This November, singer-songwriter Matt Corby releases his sophomore album, 'Rainbow Valley', the follow-up to his 2016 debut 'Telluric'.
Coming two years after 'Telluric', Matt says he wrote the songs from 'Rainbow Valley' with a deeper sense of purpose that mirrors the process of change he has undergone since his first album. “I'm constantly learning more,” Matt says.
“I practise a lot and my tastes in music over the past four years have changed dramatically. The things I place value on in music that excite me are always changing, so this is a reflection of that.”
Feeling 'Telluric' was too densely packed, Matt says 'Rainbow Valley' was an exercise in simplifying his approach to songwriting and saying more with less. “I think I tried to simplify a little bit in a way, particularly the writing process for this album, and tried to leave as much space for the songs to shine,” he says.
“I think 'Telluric' was a little bit less like that, it was very busy and maybe overinstrumentalised [sic] – if that's a word [Ed's note: It's not] – and with this record me and Dann (Hume, producer) got pretty ruthless with calling a spade a spade, shutting ideas down quick and moving on to stuff that felt good, and keeping it as simple and as impactful as possible.
“I think I matured a little bit as an instrumentalist, and I'm happy playing a simple backbeat in some songs and then having the ability to put a bit of flare on others.”
A big part of Matt maturing both artistically and personally was the birth of his son Hugh earlier this year. “When I found out that me and my partner were having a baby it actually really kicked me into gear in a lot of ways, and I think there's nothing [that] helps get your head sorted quicker than the prospect of having a baby,” he laughs.
“It's been interesting having him here; he's really happy and he's in complete turbo mode at the moment. He's figured out how to crawl and stand, he's got a couple of teeth popping through so he's more now a little thing that has to be wrangled all the time.
“It's been good for my mental health in a really interesting way: it's been really hard but the positives outweigh the negatives so heavily that you end up growing every day with them, living vicariously through them.”
With 'Rainbow Valley' released in early November, Matt won't be on tour in Australia until the beginning of next year after showing off his new gear on a UK/ European tour. “I reckon we'll be looking at somewhere around March next year for the Australian tour, just quietly,” Matt says.
“It's going to be interesting getting the band across all this stuff; it's going to be funny playing a mixture of old and new songs, it'll be a very eclectic show. I'm excited to play this live, I'm just trying to figure out how to do it. We'll be well-refined and well-rehearsed; no second-rate, unsure performances.”
'Rainbow Valley' is available now.
Matt Corby 2019 Tour Dates
Thu 21 Mar - Great Western Hotel (Rockhampton)Fri 22 Mar - Townsville Entertainment & Convention Centre
Sat 23 Mar - Munro Martin Parklands (Cairns)
Fri 29 Mar - Hordern Pavilion (Sydney)
Sat 30 Mar - UC Refectory (Canberra)
Fri 5 Apr - Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Sat 6 Apr - Nightquarter (Gold Coast)
Tue 9 Apr - Flinders University Plaza (Adelaide)
Fri 12 Apr - Margaret Court Arena (Melbourne)
Sat 13 Apr - Costa Hall @ GPAC (Geelong)
Tue 23 Apr - Odeon Theatre (Hobart)
Sat 27 Apr - Kings Park (Perth)
