IT has been 20 years since Gaz Coombes’ infectious guitar pop, as part of Supergrass, gave Parlophone its fastest-selling debut record since Please Please Me by The Beatles.
All right, that wonderful three-minute blast that shot I Should Coco and Coombes to the top of the Britpop movement seems a long time ago. With the trio now resting in music’s graveyard, Coombes has moved on – and nowhere is this shown more than in his second solo record. Self-produced and self-released, Matador is introspective and remarkable.
Buffalo sets the tone, driven by a great chorus and a synth sound more in the mould of Moby than the man who wrote Going Out. But Coombes has matured in wonderful fashion, his distinctive vocals rolling softly around The Girl Who Fell To Earth and Detroit. To The Wire, with a beautiful piano backdrop and a harmony that reaches a powerful crescendo, is the climax of a superb piece of work.
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