Hull cult heroes Matt Edible & The Obtuse Angels have been raising the bar with their thrilling new album The Optometrist, recorded during lockdown alongside new additions John Andrew (Kingmaker) on drums, and Sarah Shiels on bass The album covers every edge of the human condition from the tender and soul-bearing ‘Triage’ reflecting on loneliness and despair to the euphoric glistening joy of ‘Mirror Shoes‘ to taking witty shots at corrupt leaders and phoney celebrities in tracks like ‘Idiot.’
Matt is a master craftsman and whip-smart social commentator who brings skill and expertise to all corners of his creativity. As Matt so eloquently says “ I truly believe that humanity can do better than this. It’s a collection of all of these things that led to the album’s title (The Optometrist) It’s always worth checking how you’re seeing things every now and again.” We were delighted when Matt sat down with GIITTV to tell us more about his craft.
How would you describe your band and work to anyone new to Matt Edible & the Obtuse Angels ?
That’s always a difficult one to answer. When I need to tick a box I normally go for indie/alternative. That’s actually two boxes but it still doesn’t really help does it?! I think of myself as being a huge fan of music who’s influenced by everything I hear. In fact, not just music, I like to think that all of the culture I consume finds its way into the music I make. I now imagine the reader coming to their own conclusion. Is “pretentious prick” a genre?
Is this a natural evolution on from Edible 5ft Smiths and Tom Robinson’s favourite band The Holy Orders?
I think so. Edible 5ft Smiths is where I started developing my songwriting. With that band we’d always try and take my basic idea for a song and contrive it in some way. Quite often with some odd time signatures or a flip in the style of the song. When I then started The Holy Orders, I had the idea that I wanted the band to be a lot more straight forward. It soon became apparent that the contrary elements of my songwriting were just part of how I write music. I think it’s those quirks that drew us to Tom Robinson. We sounded like an indie rock band but there was a bit more depth to the songs. Matt Edible & The Obtuse Angels came about because I’d been writing songs that didn’t quite fit with the sound of The Holy Orders. I decided to make a “solo” record to get these songs out into the world. My idea with the project was to be able to write and record songs without worrying how they sounded in the context of a band.
How does it compare to 2018’s brilliant ‘Stairgazing’ album?
The Optometrist is fundamentally different because I played and arranged most of it myself. I made the first record down in Oxfordshire with my friend Joe Bennett (Goldrush, The Dreaming Spires). I went with the basic songs and we built the recordings around them. Joe is a talented multi-instrumentalist and between me, him and drummer Mike Monaghan, we made a very lush sounding, dynamic record. Because I made the new record at home over lockdown, I did all of the instrumentation and arrangement myself. I could only use the instruments I could play. Where there might have been violins before, there are now clarinets or saxophones.
How did Covid effect your songwriting/ recording progress?
It had a massive effect on this record. Just before it hit I’d got myself a digital multi-track recorder with the intention of demoing the next record. When lockdown happened, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands, so I started adding to the demos. They were becoming fully formed recordings. I’d been playing guitar for the current incarnation of Kingmaker for a few years so I thought I’d see if John (Andrew) would be up for getting involved. I emailed the tracks to him, he’d pop down to the rehearsal room and put drums down, then he’d do a mix for me. We ping-ponged the songs back and forth, John tweaking the mixes as we went along. At some point we realised that this was how we were going to make the full record.
What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
It’s always when I first see a physical copy of a record. This one especially as I’m putting it out myself so I’ve had to oversee every step of it. I’ve collected records for years and there’s something just magical about having your own music alongside so many heroes in your collection.
I have seen you play many times with Kingmaker. I think your version of Really ‘Scrape the Sky’ brings a completely fresh, raw elevated dimension to the track . What was it like reforming Kingmaker with this new line up?
It came about when John and Myles (Howell) decided to do a gig to mark the 25th anniversary of Eat Yourself Whole. They asked a few different musicians to guest on a few songs each. As soon as we started rehearsing something just clicked. After the show they asked if I’d be up for doing a bit more with them and it all went from there. It’s really good fun. Because of my age I wasn’t really aware of Kingmaker first time round so I wasn’t massively familiar with them. They’ve got some fantastic songs and it’s great to be part of allowing them to keep being played.
And I have seen how the Kingmaker audience have taken to you – they love it! How does it feel from the stage?
The shows are great to play and the love from the audiences make them an absolute joy. Me and Mike (Wright, who sings the lion’s share of the songs) were concerned that fans would react badly to Loz not being involved but they’ve been fantastic. People love those songs and, with Loz not wanting to make music anymore, they’re just happy to have the chance to hear them being played. Even though two thirds of the band are involved, there was always a danger of it seeming like a bit of a Kingmaker tribute act. I think that by fully acknowledging that fact and having me and Mike, who both have very different voices, share vocal duties, the shows have much more of an original energy to them.
Has playing with Kingmaker influenced your other personal projects?
I can’t say exactly how but I do feel like it’s given me some extra tools as a songwriter. Every songwriter finds themselves slipping into the same habits, whether that’s with chord changes, melodies, lyrical quirks. When I’m writing on a guitar I tend to find that muscle memory dictates where my hands expect to go. Having a bunch of other songs in there means that I might find myself exploring options I wouldn’t have thought of before.
How has it been playing with John Andrew in both Kingmaker and The Obtuse Angels? What does his experience bring to the table when coupled with yours?
The familiarity is really useful. It made the process of recording and communicating ideas easier. John’s always very honest about what he thinks is working and what isn’t. There were a couple of times that I’d listen back to my first drafts of a song and think “John’s gonna like this one!”
How about Sarah Shiels? What drew you to working with her on the album?
When I realised this incarnation of the band was going to be Hull-based, I wanted to make sure I had the best musicians I could. I’d seen Sarah play in a bunch of bands as well as performing as a singer-songwriter and she’s always impressed me; her playing, singing and musicality. With the right musicians you don’t have to worry about what they’re going to do to your song because they instinctively know what it needs. It’s exactly that with Sarah. As soon as we all got in a room together we could feel it worked.
How much has the current political climate influenced your latest album? You wittily take shots at Corrupt Leaders and Phoney Celebrities in this album.
It definitely had an influence. I’ve followed politics a lot more closely in the past few years, to the point that I have to check myself. It’s started to feel like it was entertainment, “What’s Boris done now?! Trump said what?! Kemi’s dog-whistling there! Starmer’s just a red Tory!” The thing is, it’s not entertainment. These are things that affect real people. Not just statistics. Real vulnerable people. Add to that the celebrities amplifying the demonisation of certain groups and seeing people’s willingness to follow such hatred and it couldn’t help but influence this record. It’s all quite depressing really. I truly believe that humanity can be better than this. It’s a collection of all of these things that led to the album’s title. It’s always worth checking how you’re seeing things every now and again.
‘Idiot’ is one of my favourite songs on the album. It reminds me of The Fall, Sultans of Ping or early Yard Act , cleverly reflecting on “Phoney Culture war influencers and fake news pseudo prophets” Was that fun to write? What was the thinking behind this track?
This leads on perfectly from what I was saying about celebrities. There’s been such a rise in influencers (and indeed politicians) who are “just asking the question” and claim to be doing it in the name of “free speech” when really it’s just amplifying dangerous ideas that don’t have any basis in fact. People love a conspiracy and they love to think they’re cleverer than everyone else, to the point that they choose to listen to pseudo-science over people who have dedicated their whole life to studying these things in order to help. I’m exploring this idea in Idiot. Let me be clear (sorry to borrow a turn of phrase from front bench politics) though, the Idiot of the song is not the person believing the conspiracy theories. It’s easy to slip into and can be compelling, thrilling and entertaining. The Idiots are the influencers who amplify these ideas for nothing more than making money and boosting their profile.
Do you use Dynamic Pricing for your gigs like Oasis do?
It’s crazy isn’t it? If you’re looking for proof that capitalism doesn’t work for the good of humanity then there it is. There’s something particularly galling about the first acts to make use of it over here being Bruce Springsteen and Oasis. People who have made money from being the “voice of the working classes”. No-one needs to be earning the sort of money they’ll be getting from these shows – and that’s not to mention the ticket agencies who pioneered this glutinous cash-grab.
I, like so many vocational artists, have to work a day job, not just to live, but to afford to be a musician. The dream is to be able to sustain a career solely making music. That shouldn’t be unachievable but it certainly feels it. The thought that someone who has got so lucky to be in this position from doing something they supposedly love can then find it reasonable to exploit the very people who have put them in that position is sickening.
Do we use Dynamic Pricing? I can’t say it’s ever been likely to be an option – but I think you can guess.
Are you, therefore better than Oasis? Where did the idea for this cracker of a song come from?
Oasis were a huge gateway band for me. As a teenager, they made me want to be in a band. They made me persist with learning guitar after giving up several times previous – these songs I could actually play! I moved onto other bands from the era fairly quickly (Manics, Pulp, Radiohead…) who I deemed more interesting and started being a bit dismissive of Oasis. I’d claim they were boring and predictable. Having seemingly also learned a bit of attitude from them, I remember claiming “I’m better than Oasis!” One day I started playing the chord sequence it seemed a fitting choice of words for it. It’s just a really simple song about how someone can improve your life just by being around. I loved the metaphor of “Be Here Now when we’re apart, but together we’re albums one and two.”
Mirror Shoes is euphoric joyful and transports us right back into the 70s. Where can I get such time-hopping footwear? What inspired you to write this song? How did you make the riffs so chunky and evocative?
I bought a guitar pedal, plugged it in, and the first thing I played was that riff! The pedal was Reuss Muzzbomb – a Warren Ellis signature pedal which is just insane. My partner got me the shoes as a gift – she found them on eBay! The song’s about how we all wear different personalities in different aspects of life. It’s not about the shoes, it’s about how you wear them. There’s definitely a lot of Bolan in that song. It could just has easily be about that top hat he wears on the cover of The Slider, I love that record.
In contrast ‘Triage’ is so achingly beautiful, tender and soul bearing reflecting on loneliness and despair…It’s stunning. Is it your intention to span all edges of the human condition in your songs?
I never know where a song is going to take me when I start it but yeah, I like that characterisation; I think it’s important to be open to writing about all aspects. Triage comes from quite a dark place but I think it also resolves with a sense of acceptance. Reflecting on it now I think it serves quite nicely as a companion piece to The Healing from the first Obtuse Angels record (Stairgazing); like that was the voice providing the comfort to the character in distress in Triage.
Was it cathartic to write ‘Dog Dirt’? It’s a real indie banger. What is the thinking behind this track? It is so true that people in power think they can lie and talk down to the general population. The chorus is so buoyant and hook laden, while the lyrics tell some universal truths.
I distinctly remember one of the briefings at the very beginning of the pandemic where Johnson and the science advisors warned of the high possibility that the virus airborne. Johnson claimed at a later point that they had only just found out that it was and there was no way they could have known that earlier. It absolutely galled me. Gaslighting of the highest order. This was just one of many examples. I could have written a complex wordy song about it but it didn’t seem appropriate. What it needed was a taunt with the same level of emotional intelligence.
What is your favourite song on the album?
Aw, that’s not fair! I think I’ll choose to answer that by pointing people towards The Big Reveal. It’s too long to be a single but I’m really proud of that song both lyrically and musically. It explores ideas of big data and algorithms and the way they’re malevolently steering us in a worrying direction. It ties together a lot of the themes from the album. The orchestration on it is really ambitious as well. It builds from just an electric piano to a kitchen-sink-load of guitars, clarinets and saxophones. The first time I heard a rough mix of that one I just grinned at how huge it sounded.
It’s also become a bit of a different beast live. Without the wind instruments we needed to find a way of giving it the same sort of atmosphere so we’ve gone down an ambient route; loads of swelling delays that end up just on the point of being out of control.
What is the best one to play live?
The set we’ve being playing recently has Triage and Idiot back to back which is a really fun combination of songs. Triage has got loads of space and you can really feel the room leaning into it, especially the end section when everything drops out. Going straight into Idiot really lifts the energy. That one definitely stands out as a crowd favourite – for some reason people seem to love singing “I’m an idiot” along with the chorus!
What is your usual process songs or lyrics first?
There’ll be a seed of an idea which could be a title, line, riff, chord change, abstract concept, anything really. Then the song will build itself around that. With some songs, like Mirror Shoes, the ideas will flow fairly easily and feel like they’re writing themselves but others, such as The Big Reveal, I have to draft, re-write, even do a bit of research to get them to a place I’m happy with. It feels more like songs are growing than being written. They start as a seed and then they develop at their own rate. Sometimes I’ll need to trim bits off in order for them to fruit in the right way and sometimes I can just let them grow wild.
Any plans for touring the rest of the year?
That’s quite the question. The answer is that we’d love to. There’s nothing we enjoy more than playing live. The problem is that it’s tough at the moment. When I started making music, there were venues all over the country, all with plenty of slots available for bands in our position to go and start building a live reputation and growing an audience. Nowadays, most of the shows are put on by independent promoters who might only put one or two shows on a month and, understandably, need to make sure they’re putting on acts who can pull a crowd. We’re at a place where some people aware of us but probably not enough in a city to make us attractive to promoters. I’m hoping that the momentum building from this album coming out will help with that.
I would say that if anyone reading this wants to put us on then please just give us a shout. We really just want the opportunity to play this stuff in front of people.
The only thing we’ve definitely got in at the moment is the Karma Weekender at Saltbox in Nottingham on Saturday 29th March. The lineup there is excellent. It’s going to be quite the weekend for me and John as the night before Kingmaker are playing at the Shiine On festival at Butlin’s in Skegness!
Follow Matt here : mattedible.bandcamp.com/ and watch this space for more news!
