The beginning of the new year has brought us some incredible new releases from the musical masses of Brighton. One of my favourites thus far, and certainly one of the most noteworthy is Easy Mistakes; the second single from singer, guitarist, trumpet player, producer, and all round lovely chap — Matt Lockhart.
The twenty-one year old now-graduate has spent the past few months working on this primarily solo venture — writing, playing, recording and producing the three minute-long track entirely himself; all in all creating one of my personal favourite tracks to be released by Lockhart so far.
As with his last release, Easy Mistakes is very much guitar-centric; and obviously Lockhart’s roots are very much based around the indie genre. However, hip-hop and soft-rock influences are bouncing off every wall with this particular tune — even more so than Custard Cream Dreams (also a must-listen) — and the changes in harmony and structure keep you hooked from beginning to end.
The track starts off incredibly strong; with a wonderfully soft yet staccato synth, shortly joined by a firm, clear-cut kick and snare combo; with just a splash of hi-hat to introduce us nicely into Matt’s new musical endeavour. Lockhart’s skilled guitar melodies paired with a chunky bass-line are next to join the mix; introducing us to the core melody from the get-go and introducing us gradually into what is a very catchy song indeed.
Lockhart’s vocals enter within the first thirty seconds, cutting through the instrumentals; smooth, raw, and genuine. Paired with a short but sweet guitar solo midway through the track, the guitar introduces yet more ideas into this already wonderful tune, without straying too far from the original melody.
With subtle vocal slides, crisp falsetto, and deep harmonies; the vocals are more refined than in his previous single and allows the entire ensemble to function like a well-oiled machine.
On Easy Mistakes, Matt Lockhart muses; “I actually wrote the chords for [Easy Mistakes] four years ago, and the lyrics just came out of nowhere..at first I just liked how they sounded. Recently, I’ve taken on the belief that you should never be ashamed of your mistakes. It’s literally called a miss-take. That’s what the song’s basically about: You take another take, and accept and learn from them.”.
You can listen to Easy Mistakes here, and be sure to keep up-to-date with Matt Lockhart’s future projects on Instagram and Soundcloud. You can also catch Matt in action at Patterns on the 29th May, supporting Steven Bambidele alongside Lisa Lo.