Matt Van Schie - Balmy Nights EP (2010)
(Indie,Synthpop,New-Wave,Electronica,Van She)
Don’t let the hipster “retro” fashion sense and the boyish good looks fool you – Matt Van Schie, normally bassist for the self-referential Van She, surprisingly has substance aplenty as a musician. On V, Van She’s 2008 debut album, he served as somewhat of a secret weapon. His basslines were warm, simple and effective, particularly on album highlights “Strangers” and “Changes”; and he also took lead vocals on what happened to be the album’s best song – closer “A Sharp Knife”.
Now, with his main band on some well-deserved downtime, Matt’s put together his debut solo EP, entitled Balmy Nights. Lasting all of fifteen minutes, it’s a punchy, succinct collection of almost instantly enjoyable pop music. Having said that, you can certainly tell that there’s still a bit of work to be done on the overall sound.
Anyone who has followed Van She for longer than their album would know of their earlier sound – a developmental, obviously inspired pastiche of Countdown heroes and synthesizers that would make Van Halen’s “Jump” blush. Given how much progress Van She have made as a band, it’s interesting and somewhat confusing that Matt would desire to make such a sudden return to this sound. Given, he’s tweaked it slightly to centralise the synth and eradicate the guitar almost entirely, possibly in an attempt to further emboss his own identity on this material. It all comes across as just a little strange to be chasing his tail at this stage of his career, however.-sputnikmusic
