FAME is a notoriously fickle mistress. Matthews has certainly had some close brushes, but ten years after his startling breakthrough, he now finds himself on his own label and working from a converted shed at home. Like his Wolverhampton peer Ben Christophers, both deserve to be better known.

Matthews was in good voice on Saturday night, with his Jeff Buckley-like tones undimmed. His guitar playing is strong and elaborate; favouring unconventional tunings (which tripped him up early on). Matthews has a wonderful way of starting and ending songs; drawing you in, adding atmospheric touches and with a way for a wordless hum to strike exactly the right note. In this refinement he recalled Nick Drake, and Cello Song in particular.

While the Drake comparison is passé, Matthews did cut a similar period dash, tall and handsome with long, elegant fingers, and topped off with a black turtle-neck sweater. He did seem a little shy in such a rarefied setting, and the tuning up (of which there was plenty) wasn’t counterbalanced with many stories or jokes. This was a missed opportunity, the chance to hear more about the songs that have clearly wormed their way into many hearts.

The 90-minute, 12-song set was well conceived, although the number of older songs was a surprise. Newer material from his latest Home Part 2, which crept out in September last year, contrasted with the slow, downbeat nature of Part 1. The Rush was a good example, cleverly taken at a clip, but also typical in that it lacked a memorable line or hook.

One admirer later described last Saturday's show on Facebook as an acoustic head massage. But to these ears Matthews overdid the treatments on his microphone and guitars. He would have sounded better without any effects, which served to create distance and to mask the impact and emotions in the material – a key flaw for a singer-songwriter.