Deep Cabaret - Matchless LP
Formed in 2005 by bandleader and songwriter Steve Lewis, Deep Cabaret is a group of forward-thinking, instinctive musicians using sound and language to explore what it means to be human.
In 2019, Arts Council England granted Lewis funding to make an album. This afforded Deep Cabaret the type of luxurious budget normally unimaginable to DIY bands. They hired Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios and chose Justin Adams as producer, tapping into his deep expertise in North and West African music.
The resulting Matchless is aptly named. There is a calm assurance about the album that is rare. Influences are absorbed, interpreted and fed back in a way that feels natural and inviting. Hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, clarinet, cello and throat singing (as well as more traditional rock and pop instrumentation) all feature. It is remarkable (and testament to the skills of the ensemble) that these powerful tonal elements can co-exist so beautifully.
Lewis’ vocal is the glue that holds Matchless together. He sings in a voice entirely his own, free of rock and roll artifice or affectation, disarming the listener and drawing them in.
Lewis’ lyrics are equally intriguing - adapted from contemporary writers like Jonathan Safran Foer, Mary Oliver and Marilynne Robinson and icons like William Blake, Carl Jung and Wassily Kandinsky and their experiences of being human. Sometimes these words are used in their original form and recontextualised as song, sometimes they’re ‘remixed’ and reimagined as required.
The results are as though the deep trance of Ali Farka Toure has been magically transplanted to the mudflats of Morecambe Bay, reimagined through the lens of traditional British folk music and shot through with a European gothic sensibility. A tool for meditation and contemplation. A remarkable record.
Originally self-released on CD, Matchless is now finally available on vinyl for the first time thanks to Wrong Speed Records. Perhaps best known for loud, wild rock music (Part Chimp, Hey Colossus etc), there is nonetheless a common thread through the label of music made by “lifers” - people on an eternal creative quest.
2024 saw Steve Lewis celebrate his 70th birthday. Somehow “lifer” doesn’t quite do justice to his decades of creativity, but it feels serendipitous that this charming, eccentric and romantic album has found a second life and a new and welcoming home.
“It’s quite rare to find a group of musicians who have committed to finding together their own path, raw, personal, human and emotive, not relying on cliche or shallow ideas of what ‘good musicianship’ might be - so I was happy to find myself working with Deep Cabaret” – Justin Adams
Wrong Speed Records