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| LIVE REVIEWS OF QUIET LONER | |
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Quiet Loner at
Trof, Manchester - 8/10 (gig: 14/07/05) review by Ged Camera on BBC website Matt Hill is has adopted the moniker of 'Quiet Loner', probably as a reflection of his deliciously dark sense of humour. This is partially displayed when, in the space of five songs, we traipse past the executioner’s chair, Johnny Cash, lost love, Lucifer and a mickey take of Tony Blair ("I can tell you're lying because you have opened your mouth") and ID cards. The delivery style of Hill is smooth and delicate for those tales of love, though that may be at odds with lyrics such as "balls as big as mail bags", but the intrigue of what comes next can hold one's attention. Hill excels as a raconteur between songs to the intimate and packed audience. Occasionally with a solo guitarist, the crowd will be hushed at the start of song, get bored and then an outbreak of conversations commence. Tonight, Hill manages to silence the conversation the longer he plays, such is the want to hear how his twisting tales will end up. A Quiet Loner he may be, but he made a few friends in Trof. |
| REVIEWS OF SECRET RULER OF THE WORLD ALBUM | |
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VOTED ALBUM OF THE YEAR
2004 It’s no real surprise to us
that Manchester based singer-songwriter Matt Hill’s first foray into full length
album material had been building for so long that it was always bound to be special when
it finally arrived. We’ve not had an album that’s been ordered so much as a
result of a track initially appearing on our very first “Friends Of” compilation
- and it’s well deserved. |
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Manchester's Matt Hill - aka Quiet Loner - is poised between light and dark on debut Secret Ruler Of The World, a delivery somewhere between Richard Buckner and Chris Mills and an effect like the sweet sting of velvet nettles. (3/5) review by Rob Hughes |
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Equally adept at doing doleful is Manchester's Quiet Loner, whose 'secret ruler of the world' (circus 65, ****) has home-grown talent Matt Hill playing the break-up album hand. It's no 'Blood on the tracks' (but then what album is?), but it echoes disparate bedfellows such as Gram parsons and Elvis Costello, the latter not least in Hill's own voice. The album certainly deserves more than it's current independent status. |
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Matt Hill has evidently seen some troubled times. ‘Secret Ruler Of The World’ finds the Manchester-based songwriter gingerly pulling himself from the debris of a shattered relationship, recklessly pouring his heart out amidst swathes of dusty Americana and blunt lyrical catharses. Rich with the melancholy of Richard Buckner or the uplifting curiosities of a ponderous Kurt Wagner this is dark, heart-breaking stuff that steps the line perfectly between the suicidal and the strangely optimistic. If heartbreak has ever before been melded into such an intriguing, downright splendid attraction then I’d be at pains to believe it, for this is an absolute treasure of originality. review by Matt Brown |
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As Manchester's answer to Gram Parsons, Matt Hill, the brains behind new band Quiet Loner attempts to unite the classic country sound of a heart breaking in two, with the quintessential mellifluous pop ballad designed to wipe away the tears. And not a bad job he makes of it. His more soulful moments do lift liberally from Parsons songwriting style, particularly the melody to God Knows I'm leaving which has echoes of Sin City. But gladly it also funnels a great deal of Hills own sinful surroundings into the mix. "Steam clouds are rising from fountains of piss, leaving stains like paintings of every chance they've missed" he sings, as you wonder what Gram would have made of Manchester city centre on a Friday or Saturday night. Elsewhere touches of Alejandro Escovedo breeze through the tunes; the rockier You can't believe I'm so bitter a nice break from the hopeless romanticism and downright soppy Elvis Costello-ness of some of the other numbers; plenty of fodder for a Richard Curtis film. Still there's a real talent for songwriting there and the Loner has bounteous melodies of his own - plus some wonderful darker moments there that you can't help but fall in love with. "I'd love to take your pearls of wisdom and wrap them around your throat" he warns. Don't they say still waters run deep. 3/5 review by Helen Keen |
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Quiet Loner is a vehicle for the songwriting talents of Manchester-based Matt Hill. He’s been compared to all sorts of people (Elvis Costello, Richard Buckner, Morrissey) since a first self-released EP emerged in 2001 and alerted audiences to his melancholy brand of alt.country-influenced angst. A spell in the US in the mid-90s had encouraged his country music inclinations and that aforementioned debut EP, My Dark Places, suggested considerable potential. An album was subsequently recorded but illness threw a serious spanner in the works for Hill and Quiet Loner until last year. After revisiting and re-recording some of that unreleased album, Secret Ruler Of The World (Circus65 Records) eventually saw the light of a grey Manchester day. Hill’s fellow Quiet Loner conspirators – Alan Cook (pedal steel, dobro, mandolin); Mike Harries (drums, piano, organ) and Dave Harries (bass, banjo) – provide a warm musical comfort blanket for Hill’s rain-soaked songs (that Manchester weather can surely get to a boy) of love gone bad. Bringing her brolly is fellow Mancunian singer-songwriter Kirsty McGee, who numbers among the guests and offers some backing vocals. In true coals-to-Newcastle style, Hill and Quiet Loner will undoubtedly find a ready audience for their UK brand of Americana, stylishly done as it is, not only here but across the pond too. review by Mike Butler |
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And we do admit to being rather partial to the sounds of knee trembling pop and they don’t tremble any better than on this sterling debut long player from Quiet Loner. Eleven songs that we guarantee will strike you dumb. Quiet Loner centre around Manchester musician Matt Hill hitherto fan of Elvis and Bill Hicks whose first release dipped its toes into the big bad wide world in 2001 and onto an unsuspecting public. Garnering critical support from whoever was lucky enough to hear him it seemed that acclaim would naturally turn to success and recognition, but then as is the case, disaster struck, Hill contracted a rare virus and was hospitalised just at the time when his star should have been in the ascendancy. 2003 saw a return to the fray accompanied by Alan Cook, Mike and David Harries and an armament of guest vocalists to include Sian Webley from the awesome Anna Kashfi who all accompany Hill on his dusty journey through heart ache. Those thinking that this is just some limp wrested exercise in ‘oh pity me I feel blue’ neo Americana / no depression antics had better skip straight to ‘Bitter’ where as calm as you like our would be hero announces amid the discovery of infidelity: “love to take your pearls of wisdom and wrap them around your throat”. ‘Secret ruler of the world’ is deeply personalised at times intimate as it portrays the frailties of human loss in the stakes of love so much so that the iteration of hurt, betrayal and damaged pride pervades throughout with an overpowering tendency all the time equally balanced by the negative charges of bitterness, hate and sarcastic side swipes (‘Steal Away’), at times any references to Costello’s forays into Nashville are well placed (and perfectly executed on ‘Dusk settles’ which will, believe you me, have you weeping uncontrollably so crushing as it is) with maybe the early Michael Nesmith recordings with the First National Band as opposed to Gram Parsons would serve as a useful starting point add to that mix several parts of Kevin Tihista (especially on the buzzing pop of the aforementioned ‘Bitter’) and maybe a dash of Ben Vaughn. It’s not all doom laden carnage, Hill’s darkened tales are perfectly pampered by the sweet willowy textures of the drifting arrangements, classically tenderised country motifs that softly court and flicker suggestively with the haunting shimmers of the accompanying pedal steel guitar to combine into arresting country pop of the highest order. From the opening stirrings of the melancholic ‘Henri’ Quiet Loner capture the emotions and keep them imprisoned to play a merry dance with the heartstrings it’s a necessary precaution because ‘Secret Ruler’ is punishing at yet cruelly beautiful, even when it’s uplifting as on the barn dance invitation ‘Real romantic soul’ there’s still that underlying feeling of dark and deep rivers crashing just below the surface. As sweetly stinging as you could ever imagine an album could be. review by Mark Barton |
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A bleak outlook on life can often lead to uplifting music, as we all know, and that is certainly the case with Manchester based group, Quiet Loner and their debut album, “Secret Ruler Of The World”. Songwriter Matt Hill tends to focus almost completely on lost love, and his band trade in a brand of mellow country rock, so it isn’t wise to expect anything especially revolutionary here, but this is a charming and frequently delightful record that most will find very easy to enjoy. Opener 'Henri' is one of the many highlights, with an instantly engaging melody and some great pedal steel but it is on the more mournful ballads where this album really shines. 'God Knows I’m Leaving' is a beautiful song, as are 'Won’t Stop Me Wishing' and 'Postcards To Broken Hearts'. The band tend to stick to using their pedal steel, acoustic guitars and banjos as the key instruments, but there are liberal dashes of a more expansive vision, with occasional appearances of pianos, violins and flutes, which thankfully remain mere augmentations rather than overstaying their welcome. These songs, deeply personal as they are, are best served by a sparse arrangement, and Quiet Loner avoid any temptation to try and mimic Lambchop’s fantastic “Nixon” album. Although an English band, their country style sounds natural. Quiet Loner adds a certain English-ness to country music, rather than simply mimicking the Americans and that is rather refreshing. Though Quiet Loner have compared themselves to Morrissey and Elvis Costello, the best reference point I can give is the solo music of Roddy Frame, who shares a similar songwriting and vocal style with Matt Hill. This is a lovely record, pure and honest, which makes no attempt to set the world alight and shines regardless. review by Ben Howarth |
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Melancholy, elegant, exquisite...Quiet Loner have produced the perfect antidote to a life spent racing and chasing. This is an album that deserves to take pride of place in anyone's Best Of lists at the end of the year, it simply is that good. From the sweet-as-honey pedal steel of the opening track, Henri, to the classic country drama of closing number, Complex Messiah, Secret Ruler of The Word is a real find, a treat for lovers of carefully-executed Anglophile Americana that wears its heart on its sleeve. Quiet Loner (the group) is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Matt Hill, who released a series of EPs three years ago and secured support slots with the likes of Lambchop, John Rouse, Chris Mills, Richard Buckner and Neal Casals. So you can see that he's been in good company. And it shows, in the quality of the playing and the depth of his writing. Hill's acutely-observed lyrics have a sharp, refreshing honesty but are shot through with an optimism that sets him apart form his contemporaries. Musically, Quiet Loner can boast the talents of pedal steel player Alan Cook, who has worked with The Good Sons, and twins Mike and Dave Harries, the Hired Gun rhythm section. Standout track for me is God Knows I'm Leaving, a beautiful tale of drunken loss and hopelessness that features Kirsty McGee on flute and backing vocals. It's a classic country track, one you could imagine the likes of Emmylou covering. 'When the pubs are all closing/ they spit out the bones/ of shrivelled up and tired old souls/ the loveless and lonely/ in staggered despair/ with nothing to cling to but the lips of a prayer'. That lyric alone, and the sublime melody and chorus that accompanies it, is worth the CD's price alone. Quiet Loner (Matt Hill) has garnered plenty of positive reviews in recent months and I'm happy to add mine. If there's any justice, Matt should swap his flat in inner-city Manchester for a ranch New Mexico - bought with the proceeds from this platiunum-selling disc. review by John Stacey |
Triste |
Those already familiar with Manchester singer-songwriter Matt Hill, around whom quiet loner is based, will recognise half a dozen or so of the songs on this album from Matt's self-released EP's over the past few years. After a rather longer than planned gestation, the tie up with Circus 65 has resulted in these songs finally achieving their 'nirvana', in splendid reincarnations (re-mixes/re-recordings), alongside some equally excellent newer material. A central figure on the UK Americana scene since its formative years, Matt has opened for the likes of Lambchop, Josh Rouse and Tandy. His acknowledged musical influences come from both sides of the Atlantic, and include Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Gram Parsons, Elvis Costello and The Smiths. It is the meeting and blending of these influences that give uniqueness to quiet loner. On the one hand, the instrumentation is often inescapably Country, with the wistful pedal steel of Alan Cook and the evocative banjo of Dave Harries prominent on many tracks. But there is also an unmistakeable 'Englishness' to Matt Hill's lyrics; in the words themselves of course ('motorways', 'pubs', 'bedsit') but, more strikingly, following in the proud tradition of the likes of Costello and Morrissey, in the deft use of wit and irony, ensuring that these songs of illicit liaisons, bitterness and broken hearts don't become mawkish but have a defiant spirit to them. The quality of the material on this album, both musically and lyrically, overshadows the efforts of many so-called 'bigger names' on the scene. Each song is meticulously (but not mechanically) crafted and as well as having the ability to write lyrics that in turn yank at your heartstrings and grab you by the throat, Matt has a considerable gift for melody. It's a hard task to list highlights because this is a consistently strong album, but the banjo-driven 'Real Romantic Soul', the moving late night lament 'God Knows I'm Leaving' (featuring some exquisite flute by Kirsty McGee) and 'Complex Messiah', with the wonderful line: 'There's not much room in the space I'm a waste of...' are particularly impressive. In the song 'Postcards to Broken Hearts' Matt Hill characteristically describes himself as a 'walking cliché'. I beg to differ; in secret ruler of the world, quiet loner (in their unassuming, lower-case way) surely have an early contender for 'Americana Album of The Year'. review by Bill Beaver |
NETRHYTHMS |
Matt Hill comes from Manchester but his soul inhabits the dusty backroads of Americana, a fact recognised by such kindred spirits as Lambchop, Josh Rouse, Chris Mills and Richard Buckner all of whom have signed him on as support act. Teamed with pedal steel player Alan Cook, who's previously done high lonesome for The Good Sons, rhythm section banjo botherer and piano plinker Mike and Dave Harries and guests that include Kirsty McGee and The Havenots, he's come up with a debut album that tips the hat to such influences as Cash, Parsons, Handsome Family and Costello without ever being in thrall to them. And he remains firmly British, talking of pubs rather than barrooms, motorways not highways. Real Romantic Soul offers gothic bluegrass hung with Spanish moss, God Knows I’m Leaving takes Tom Waits for an Irish immigrant’s country slow waltz through a drunk’s broken heart with McGee on flute and backing vocals, and Fraction of Her Smile’s ode to sexual healing thrums along to the sort of country rock you’d find playing on Wilco or the Jayhawks’ front porch. From the outset, Henri with its keening steel, lays out the lyrical agenda of men tied up and torn down by love, themes of dark dreams, sexual desire, loss and losers that permeate such mournfully melancholic songs as Dusk Settles, the Beatlesesque Steal Away’s bitter ballad of callous cheating sex, the bed’s too big without you of Postcards To Broken Hearts and the awkward, tentative make up sex of Complex Messiah. Although you’ll hear shades of Costello in the phrasing Notably on Won’t Stop Me Wishing), it’s in the lyrical sleights of hand the influence shows most with lines like "did you count the slaps of the second hand?", "there’s not much room in the space I’m a waste of" and "I’d love to...make you eat every word you promised I’d even sit and watch you choke." Loner he may be, but he keeps misery good company. review by Mike Davies |
WHISPERIN & HOLLERIN |
Quiet loner is both a band and an individual singer/ songwriter, one Matt Hill. Matt's based in Manchester, he's an Elvis Presley and Bill Hicks obsessive who named his band after a band Hicks once fronted. Just like your reviewer, he also discovered country from backtracking through the likes of Uncle Tupelo, Buffalo Tom and The Lemonheads back to Gram Parsons and Johnny Cash to way beyond. After winding up in a remote New Mexico town with the unlikely name Truth Or Consequence while travelling in 1996, this secret passion for Country flowered and seemed a viable musical way forward even when returning to rain-lashed, industrial Manchester. So since then that's what's been consuming Matt as he's honed his rootsy singer/ songwriting credentials the hard way playing toilets and releasing self-produced EPS at his gigs. Things looked good with quiet loner having an album ready to go in 2002 when Matt contracted a rare virus, got hospitalised for a protracted spell and the album was temporarily shelved. Since then, he's regrouped quiet loner - also featuring Mike Harries (drums, organ), Dave Harries (bass, banjo) and Alan Cook (pedal steel and veteran of many sessions involving the likes of Chris Mills, Michael Weston King and Tom Ovans) - and partially re-recorded what I now hold in my hand, the finally-released "Secret Ruler Of The World." So it's been a long, hard road for Matt thus far, but the experiences and knock-backs have been beneficial, at least creatively, as "Secret Ruler Of The World" is one of the very best homegrown UK roots-rock albums your reviewer has ever clapped ears on. But first a word of warning: if you have a problem with extremely emotional albums where the author spills his heart out right in front of you than you'll find "Secret Ruler..." hard to take. Make no mistake, this is a break up album of the first water, drenched in bitterness, spite, regret, sadness, reflection and the range of emotion in between. It's not an overstatement to say it's up there with Ryan Adams' "Heartbreaker", but the album it most recalls ( for me personally) is The Good Sons' final album "Happiness" (itself Michael Weston King's break-up album) and on the strength of this, Matt Hill is worthy of mention in the same league as MWK and the equally under-rated Chris Mills. There's not a weak track here. The wistful "Henri" kicks off the affair and is a stately, mid-paced cruise enlivened by Alan Cook's burnished gold pedal steel. It's a good start, though it's soon eclipsed by "Real Romantic Soul", which drops in somewhere between Johnny Cash and 16 Horsepower, with lovely banjo plucking from bassist Dave Harries and the melody line cocking a snook to The Handsome Family's "My Sister's Tiny Hands." "Dusk Settles" follows, and it's the first of the album's clutch of magical ballads. Framed by fragile pedal steel and whirling organ, its' exquisite sadness (sample lyric: "Wish I was lying at your feet, I wouldn't have to lie to your face") is wholly tangible, as it is on the forlornly pretty "Postcards To Broken Hearts" which finds Matt's poetic approach cracking and him resorting to "it's too bloody big this double bed" as the kiss off line. Stunning stuff, as is the folksy "God Knows I'm Leaving", which is deceptively gentle thanks to Kirsty mcgee's flute, but features lyrical invective ("steam clouds are rising from fountains of piss") that Chris Mills would relish. Perhaps understandably - bearing in mind the subject matter - the album only features a couple of tunes that approach 'rocker' status, and of these "A Fraction Of Your Smile" is still reflective and abetted by expressive dobro. "You Can't Believe I'm So Bitter" is the biggest rave-up here, and Hill's rage therein could be cut with a knife, as he proceeds to do his best Elvis Costello and lets loose on lines like "I'd make you eat every word you promised, I'd even sit and watch you choke." All of these are worth the price of admission, but if your reviewer's back was to the wall, he'd have to pick out both "Steal Away" and "Truth Or Consequence" as his favourites here. The first is truly devastating: voyeuristically accurate adulterer's blues, built around Lennonesque piano and a savage grace, with Hill holding nothing back. The lines: "It's all easy words and hearts and flowers in stolen bedroom towels and I don't have to be there when your bills get paid" give you an idea of the scalpel-sharp observations here. It's magnificent, but you'll need to keep the tissues handy, as you will for "Truth Or Consequence" where Matt bares his very soulover four haunting, haunted and perfectly weighted minutes. "Secret Ruler Of The World" is an album where the scars run deep and will take an eternity to heal. It's tender, tough and almost unbearably experience-fuelled and you will quite probably obsess over it for longer than is maybe healthy, but that's the kind of response Matt Hill demands. Believe me, you need to hear this album. review by Tim Peacock |
Manchester Music |
Quiet Loner is the continuing project of Matt Hill, this time based around a more permanent 4 piece line up, collaborating with Mike Harris on production duties and calling upon the shining stars of Manchester’s underground folk / Americana scene. No one quite does alt.Americana quite like Matt Hill. The twisting words and the swinging, but at times no less malevolent, arrangements are not only quite genuine and perfectly delivered, but they call on British folk sensibilities as much as they do the transatlantic calling. Just experiencing the immediacy of the first quarter of the album, there’s not one track to displease, plenty to listen to and loads of slide and pedal steel set against acoustics and picked banjo sounds. The poignant “Steal Away” is immediately out done by “God Knows I’m Leaving” , with it’s pure vocal and brilliantly constructed melody, which all builds up into a classic arrangement. In fact Hill covers many moods in this impressive collection, with “Truth or Consequence” leading us to the melancholy conclusion of “Complex Messiah”. The lyrics are consistently impressive : “There’s not much room in the space I’m a waste of…”. No Mr Hill, brilliant lyrics and proven skills in constructing perfect arrangements and song will continue to serve you well. Ladies and gentlemen, Manchester’s best ? Welcome to Mancuniacana… review by Jon Ashley |
MUSICWORKZ |
With country influenced music creeping into the ‘cool’ corner of the more commercial end of the music consumer market, one is often left bewildered by the number of new media concocted descriptions for some of the albums from this far-reaching genre. I, myself (and many years ago), once used the phrase ‘urban country’ as a tongue-in-cheek reference to a long forgotten album, but this long-awaited debut from Manchester-based Matt Hill’s ‘Quiet Loner’ outfit fits that particular description rather well. Although this is a debut album, Hill is not a new face (neither are the band and guest contributors, for that matter); Matt Hill has established quite a following for himself on the live circuit, whether adding his talents to his extended family of musician friends when they head to the UK on tour, often finding time to help Jason Walker out on his solo acoustic showcases, for example, or performing openers for somewhat more established artists such as Lambchop & Joe Pernice, There are definite country influences – themes of love/love lost, and tales of losers, wrapped in an embrace of pedal steel, dobro and banjo, surrounded by ample luscious female backing vocals and harmonies. Although ‘Secret Ruler Of The World’ leans towards the bittersweet and dark side of country, the songs touch a wide range of influences, from Jayhawks-esque country rock (‘Fraction of Her Smile’), to Waits-ish ‘God Knows I’m Leaving’, which is about where the band leave the wide open spaces and head into inner city urbania. Almost certainly, the ‘urban’ influences are predominantly British, with, for example, references to ‘lay-bys’ and ‘pubs’ (“when the pubs are all closing/they spill out the bones/of shrivelled up and tired old souls” – opening lines from ‘God Knows I’m Leaving’ are just inspirational), where Hill blends poetic urban(e?) observations with, in this case, a dark Tom Waits influence. This example perhaps personifies Hill’s music on this album – he melds exquisitely refined lyrics and perfectly executed vocals with classic instrumentation from the country/Americana genre - on the one hand reminiscent of masters of the genre, and on the other, an imposing example of the new wave of original and inspiring material that finds itself filed under general ‘americana’ Label mates The HaveNots (Liam Dullaghan & Sophia Marshall) also make appearances here, with Marshall lending her smoky vocals to ‘Postcards To Broken Hearts’ and ‘Complex Messiah’; fine, and equally compelling, vocal contributions from Kirsty McGee and Sian Webley. Certainly, the critical acclaim for Hill’s songwriting skill is unquestionable, and the plentiful comparisons to (Elvis) Costello’s vocal style abound, and if you can imagine Costello cruising the haunts of the romantically desperate and lonely, adding a strong country flavour to the experience, you’ll have pretty much hit on the essence of Quiet Loner. review by Stuart Olds |
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