Matthew Sawyer – Sleep Dreamt a Brother

So, a deliberate and quiet entrenchment of some emotional inner space; and whether you think entering into this foggy world of Sawyer’s thoughts and feelings is worth it is, (as Peter Cook once said), “entirely a matter for you”.

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A strange record and one that needs a fair few listens to gauge whether you’ve unearthed a gem or merely been wasting your time with a lot of personal chronicling. This is one of these records that don’t really need a reviewer, it’s about you and the record, and anyway, I’ve not really paid attention to much of Matthew Sawyer’s back catalogue, apart from a cursory listen now and again; so whatever dreadful social “muso/journo” blunders I make from now on are mine alone.

I’ll tell you now, rightly or wrongly that Sawyer’s 3^rd LP is one that is equally charming and gauche. I would guess that Sleep Dreamt a Brother is probably set up in this way to deliberately evoke a set of feelings or, (as in the case of Feeeeling, one of the best tracks on here), a ‘drawn out feeling’ that lasts the LP’s lifetime, but even if it is successful in this, it’s still an inconclusive listen. Which can be as annoying (or otherwise) as you want it to be, despite boasting some very affecting moments. Is it a personal log? Could be, given the fact that it’s an obviously an intensely personal, not to say domestic record often concerned with death. Listen to Death is Like a Dream We’ll Have or Another World. Other parallels I can think of are Attila the Stockbroker’s brilliant requiem for his mum, or even Play for Today (or is it called afternoon drama now?) on Radio 4. There’s a dash of Syd (inevitably), or Fried – era Cope (speculatively), too; as heard in the maudlin October All The Time, and tracks like The Forgetting Head has a wee bit of that knees up at the kitchen table vibe that Ivor Cutler was so adept at conjuring up.