The solo project of multi-faceted songwriter, pianist, and producer Matthew Deane explores a very futuristic and rather complex style of modern pop. Loaded with luxuriously draped and quite intentionally overly processed effects across the vocals and the arrangement leave you completely in awe and also slightly bewildered by what’s being played for you. A while back, I described his work as “music built in tomorrow, for yesterday”. While that may seem confusing, the core proposition still remains the same. GEEK TRAGEDY has you so deeply in the throes of your own nostalgia while still delivering continually forward thinking production approaches that definitively sound like it’s from the future.
From the album’s first opener, a kind of psychedelic rock equivalent in the dream pop space, Matthew Deane takes you down a hypnotic and completely all encompassing soundscape that drapes you in its long and winding road into this pulsating yet distinctly retro confluence. ‘sorry’ might be my personal favourite on this record though, it feels so ridiculously out of the way from any standard classification of sounds, just thoroughly into the realms of the inexplicable but simultaneously spellbinding and captivating in every which way.
I don’t think GEEK TRAGEDY and Matthew’s music by large are the norm for any real audience. It’s an evolving sound and he’s a pioneer amongst it all. Forward thinking from back to front, he’s constantly pushing the boundary and exploring unchartered territory while leaving you completely immersed in this beautiful and resplendent set of soundscapes that are so endemic to his style. Hyperpop is always on my radar as I so confidently feel that it’s only a matter of time before it really cuts into the mainstream at large. My hope is that Matthew will be spearheading that charge.