The Noise reviews Matt Everett’s ‘White Sugar’

75 or Less Records

White Sugar

8 tracks

Matt Everett is a Rhode Island artist, who performs vocals, guitar, synth, strings, and more on these eight tracks. He is accompanied by Stu Powers, on drums and Greg Motta, covering drums and percussion. This is essentially pop music with elements of modern disco. But, can you dance to it? It may very well inspire you to dance to it, but to my ears, these tracks play more like pleasant background music. That’s just the vibe that I get from it. The music feels as if it is striving at times, to reach something akin to the slick, smooth style which Davie Bowie performed so strikingly well when he was in dance music mode, most notably so, on track 7, “The Greatest Thing.” I loved it when David Bowie did it, but if I am right about what I am hearing and those are the heights that Matt Everett is aspiring to reach, then by comparison, this music has a long way to go. Is it bad music? Not at all. Is it DANCE music? I’m not feeling that. As I’ve said, this would work best for me as background music played while chilling in the comfort of your living room, or while cruising in your car.

Track 5, “Cheap Plastic Shovel,” seemed interestingly out of place amidst the rest of these tracks, and I mean this in the best possible way. There are some heartfelt, genuinely moving lyrics in this song. It had a story to tell. One that I wanted to hear. I would have liked to hear more like this one. Out of all eight tracks, this one really caught my attention, making me stop and listen and really hear. Track 6, “Quickening,” rated as a winner for me as well. It’s smooth, quality music, easy on the ears, it falls nicely into its own sort of groove, a pinch of trance, a dash of ambient sound, and there you have it. So, my take on White Sugar? I wasn’t blown away by it, but all in all, pretty sweet. Check it out.