Review: ‘Matthew Stevens’

The eponymous release (Candid, 2026) by guitarist Matthew Stevens is not a solo guitar album. He has already released one of those, Pittsburgh (Whirlwind, 2021). Rather, Matthew Stevens is a guest-filled outing that goes in several directions. The album is co-produced by Stevens, saxophonist Josh Johnson – a favorite of many these days, and drummer Eric Doob. All three also play on the record along with vibraphonist Joel Ross, vocalists Anna B Savage and Cory King, guitarists Jeff Parker and Dylan Day, and Stevens’ mentor Terri Lyne Carrington. Stevens’s core collaborators, keyboardist Chris Fishman and bassist Kyle Miles, play throughout with spots from percussionist Paulo Stagnaro and Rich Hinman on slide and pedal steel. Yes, that’s a litany of names, but they appear selectively by track. The album meshes the acoustic and electric and feels very personal to Stevens, who may well have been working on these songs for several years. Nonetheless, Josh Johnson’s fingerprints are all over it. 

The opening “Take Heart” breathes with propulsive energy. It begins with percolating rhythms between Doob and Stagnaro that progress into an angular rhythm highlighted by Ross, Stevens’ serpentine guitar lines, and Johnson’s alto bursts.  The tone setter, according to Stevens, is “Hazy,” which is preceded by an intro track. It’s a tune intended to capture the many life changes Stevens has experienced in recent years. The brief intro is ethereal and dreamy, seguing directly to the main five-minute track. A clear melodic hook established in the intro carries through an effects-laden labyrinthian path, punctuated by Johnson’s alto. “SLSM” is a core band track with double-tracked acoustic and electric guitars that weave around Fishman’s subtle piano, again creating a rather atmospheric sonic. “1000 Times” is similarly airy, driven by Doob’s drum patterns, and the soothing combination of Johnson’s alto and the leader’s guitar. “Edgewood,” closes Side A, by beginning to mark a change in the album into a blend of jazz and Americana. Guitarists Parker and Day join Stevens, along with Hinman on slide. The piece retains a peaceful nature but favors the instruments over electronic effects. The sound clarity allows one to hear the guitarists’ movements on their frets.  

Stevens, Parker, and Carrington, among others deliver a soulful rendering of Sonny Sharrock’s “Who Does She Hope to Be?” featuring intriguing interplay between the two guitarists. “Born of Silence” melds jazz and Americana as Stevens’ guitar emits a simple, gorgeous melody, enhanced at times by Hinman’s pedal steel and Doob’s steady drum groove. Yet, we are shaken out of this headphone-oriented journey by the cover of “Alberta,” sung by English vocalist Anna B. Savage. The arrangement is spare, as Savage’s arresting vocal is accompanied only by Stevens’ acoustic guitar, Johnson’s alto, and his patented electronic touches. Savage commented, “…Honestly, I find the song quite devastating. Unmet desire, the want to get to know someone perpetually out of reach, watching someone go through their own impenetrable stuff.” 

Bassist Miles lays down a thick, filthy bassline for the closing “The Air Is Thick,” a neo soul infectious tune sung softly and wordlessly presumably by Cory King over Doob’s insistent beats. 

Stevens’ colorful, highly textured eponymous, largely introspective album is his crowning achievement to date as a leader. It will inevitably grow on you with each listen. 

‘Matthew Stevens’ is out now on Candid Records. It can be purchased on Bandcamp.

Photo credit: Graham Tolbert