{"id":14078,"date":"2020-12-02T05:00:07","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T05:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=14078"},"modified":"2020-11-30T17:55:43","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T17:55:43","slug":"tensheds-the-days-of-my-confinement-self-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=14078","title":{"rendered":"Tensheds \u2013 The Days Of My Confinement (Self-Released)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It’s less than 12 months since Tensheds released their 4th<\/sup> album \u2018Deathrow Disco\u2019, yet December 2019 might seem like a lifetime ago now. Let’s head back to the start of this chaotic year in March, where main man Matt Millership found himself in isolation, an extensive tour cancelled, and no way to promote his music.<\/p>\n

He, like many other musicians and artists, adapted to the situation, found ways to create and get an outlet to his fanbase. He performed a Livestream that was successful, and though apprehensive at first, Matt embraced this new format and the following live sessions grew into a regular event affectionately entitled \u2018The Punk Palace Sessions\u2019. Matt promised to write and perform a new song every week, he delivered, and the outcome of these sessions are this new solo album, \u2018The Days Of My Confinement\u2019, written and recorded entirely in isolation.<\/p>\n

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Not surprisingly, \u2018The Days Of My Confinement\u2019 is the antithesis of \u2018Deathrow Disco\u2019. While that last album, funnily enough, deals with its own themes of isolation, musically it is a gritty, alternative beast full of heavy beats and gravelly vocals. \u2018The Days Of My Confinement\u2019 is more of a celebration of the piano, and showcases the songwriter\u2019s classic training, and is therefore a much more somber and subdued affair. Working within the confines of his home studio, Matt creates drama and certain moods that he probably would not have managed if the world was a different place during the recording.<\/p>\n

There is a certain intimacy to the performance here. These haunting piano sermons are songs stripped bare to the bone, the songwriter bearing his inner soul for all to digest. Opener \u2018Ticking Clocks\u2019 sets the scene perfectly as Matt\u2019s tinkling of the ivories contrasts with raspy vocals, before a bass drum beat and layered piano runs take the listener to another plane.<\/p>\n

Matt\u2019s classical training lends him well throughout, the clever song structures help pique the interest as each song has a certain ebb and flow. On \u2018The Bridge Song\u2019, the strong vocal performance and subdued verse lead this listener into a false sense of security, before stabs of piano chords take me by surprise. To me, it sounds like it was recorded in a church, the piano player being observed by a silent congregation as he plays his heart out. It’s both emotive and dramatic in equal measures.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the first single \u2018Mirrors\u2019 is as epic as it gets, the sweeping chorus as grandiose as its counterpart verse is timid. \u2018Hell Is In The Water\u2019 has a fuller band sound that sees Matt explore and incorporate more instruments, he takes us to church on this sermon with handclaps and fuzzy stabs of guitar. On \u2018Cotton Wool World\u2019 the delicacy of the delivery is fascinating, Matt\u2019s raw, gravelly tones almost breaking over a piano melody that is dancing on a razor\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n

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The confines that were forced upon him and the goals that he set himself have worked in his favour, and Matt Millership has created an album that is as majestic as it is stark and chilling. This is not an upbeat or even a happy album, but we are not in happy times and in that way, it seems quite fitting. If you\u2019re a fan of Tom Waits, if you love the echoey, reverb drenched feel of Springsteen’s \u2018Nebraska\u2019, or have been enraptured by Nick Cave\u2019s recent \u2018Idiot Prayer\u2019 performance, then you could do no wrong getting Tensheds new album in your creepy little mitts for Christmas.<\/p>\n

Buy the album Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: Ben Hughes<\/p>\n

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