{"id":78140,"date":"2019-04-23T11:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=78140"},"modified":"2023-04-07T14:23:10","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T13:23:10","slug":"review-mat-kerekes-ruby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Mat Kerekes \u2013 Ruby"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"If you don\u2019t recognise the name Mat Kerekes<\/strong>, he\u2019s the singer of alt-rockers Citizen. If this little fact doesn\u2019t catch your attention, then his new album \u2018Ruby\u2019<\/em> certainly will. While it doesn\u2019t sound anything like his main band, the care and experience he gained with them is clear. Despite its acoustic foundation, it thrives with a full-band sound.<\/p>\n

Under the mantle of solo singer-songwriter, Kerekes is free to try all kinds of new sounds. The titular track gives you a taste with its affecting vocal and a softly, soaring chorus, but it\u2019s an album of careful contrasts. \u2018Hawthorne<\/em>\u2019 is bright and uplifting whereas \u2018They Appear At Night<\/em>\u2019 is so very quiet, featuring soft female vocals singing “sleep well tonight”<\/em>, it evokes a bedtime kiss. Lyrically he keeps it honest enough to hold your attention but vague enough to be relatable and it proves just how skilful his songwriting is.<\/p>\n

While Citizen\u2019s sound could put you on a downer, here the songs are optimistic. Just like when he strips things right back on the forlorn \u2018Autumn Dress\u2019,<\/em> but also when he gets the toes-tapping on the stomping \u2018Spider Silk<\/em>\u2019. There\u2019s even a jaunty piano ballad in the form of \u2018Diamond\u2019<\/em> to brighten the day. Importantly, although varied, these different elements sit neatly together.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iUWfvOxDCJw<\/p>\n

What helps set his work apart is the beautiful execution and the little details running through the performance. The subtle guitar licks and soft passages in just\u00a0<\/em>the right place make the songs shine. This is most apparent on \u2018Welcome To Crystal Cres<\/em>\u2019, which brings plenty of noise to the table. It\u2019s a bigger, adventurous song and a huge contrast to what comes before, thriving on the crash of drums and almost frantic lead guitar runs. It\u2019s no less accomplished and adds to the overall experience.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ruby\u2019<\/em> is such a lovely record. It has allowed Kerekes to showcase his diversity. It’s certainly one not to ignore.<\/p>\n

4\/5<\/p>\n

\u2018Ruby<\/em>\u2019 by Mat Kerekes<\/strong> is out now on Black Cement Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Mat Kerekes<\/strong> links: Website<\/a> | Facebook<\/a>| Twitter<\/a> | Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by Ian Kenworthy (@WhisperingSand<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“\u2018Ruby\u2019 is such a lovely record\u2026 it’s certainly one not to ignore.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":78141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[5879,16842,15621,3198,16841],"class_list":["post-78140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-reviews","tag-black-cement-records","tag-ian-kenworthy","tag-mat-kerekes","tag-ruby"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nReview: Mat Kerekes \u2013 Ruby - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""\u2018Ruby\u2019 is such a lovely record\u2026 it's certainly one not to ignore."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Mat Kerekes \u2013 Ruby - Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""\u2018Ruby\u2019 is such a lovely record\u2026 it's certainly one not to ignore."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-23T10:00:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-07T13:23:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Ruby-cover.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ian Kenworthy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ian Kenworthy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: Mat Kerekes \u2013 Ruby - Already Heard Staging","description":"\"\u2018Ruby\u2019 is such a lovely record\u2026 it's certainly one not to ignore.\"","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Review: Mat Kerekes \u2013 Ruby - Already Heard Staging","og_description":"\"\u2018Ruby\u2019 is such a lovely record\u2026 it's certainly one not to ignore.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/","og_site_name":"Already Heard Staging","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","article_published_time":"2019-04-23T10:00:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-07T13:23:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Ruby-cover.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ian Kenworthy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_site":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ian Kenworthy","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/"},"author":{"name":"Ian Kenworthy","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/e00899caa476ac5e5fc7ef785c987de1"},"headline":"Review: Mat Kerekes \u2013 Ruby","datePublished":"2019-04-23T10:00:02+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-07T13:23:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/"},"wordCount":362,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Ruby-cover.jpg","keywords":["Album Reviews","Black Cement Records","Ian Kenworthy","Mat Kerekes","Ruby"],"articleSection":["Album Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/","name":"Review: Mat Kerekes \u2013 Ruby - Already Heard Staging","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Ruby-cover.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-23T10:00:02+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-07T13:23:10+00:00","description":"\"\u2018Ruby\u2019 is such a lovely record\u2026 it's certainly one not to ignore.\"","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-mat-kerekes-ruby\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Ruby-cover.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Ruby-cover.jpg","width":480,"height":480},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","name":"Already Heard Staging","description":"Covering the best in alternative music as best as we can","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization","name":"Already Heard","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Already Heard"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","https:\/\/x.com\/alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alreadyheard\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/already-heard\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/AlreadyHeardMusic","https:\/\/tiktok.com\/@alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@alreadyheard"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/e00899caa476ac5e5fc7ef785c987de1","name":"Ian Kenworthy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f783f0372cac70e4f23bc75bf8457c1866467c2282723fa8314019f18e66003?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f783f0372cac70e4f23bc75bf8457c1866467c2282723fa8314019f18e66003?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f783f0372cac70e4f23bc75bf8457c1866467c2282723fa8314019f18e66003?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ian Kenworthy"},"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/author\/ian-kenworthy\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78140"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78311,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78140\/revisions\/78311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}