SHREDnews

English singer/songwriter and folk rocker Will Knox has just released the eagerly awaited follow up to his 2008 EP Buckled Knees, his first full length record entitled The Matador and the Acrobat.

Will Knox leads listeners on a musical journey through narrative, personal lyrics simultaneously laced with poetic symbolism and absolutely dripping in unique style. The painting that serves as the cover art calls to mind abstract images of a sort of circus of mystery and corruption. This actually ends up being a perfect accompaniment to the overall mood that the music creates. I greatly enjoyed inspecting every pixel while listening through the record. Featuring a band comprised of acoustic guitar, banjo, violin, upright bass and drums, the instrumentation on this album is one of my favorite things about it. The music has an organic and earthy atmosphere to it right away because of the timbre of these instruments, in addition to how well the album flows as a complete musical thought.

The album begins with the first of three short excerpts of one musical theme. The Matador and the Acrobat I ends abruptly but with purpose, setting the mood for the rest of the CD. The second part serves as an interlude halfway through the album, while part III is the final track. These 30 second pieces enhance the overall flow of the album, bringing the music back to its original theme at key moments.

After a few seconds of modest banjo plucking, Buckled Knees explodes into a narrative of an artist struggling to make his name. Painted Smile sounds delightfully haunting, and allows listeners to catch a rare glimpse of a more edgy, rock sound to Knox’s voice, which normally is smooth and melodic. These moments are few on this album, but the use of restraint in this vocal style as well as the remarkable dynamic intuition of the band, are really indispensable in terms of the emotion they add. Painted Smile segues seamlessly into Three Blind Mice, an effective conclusion to the theme constructed in previous track.

The light and airy Belly of Beast tells the story of a love hate relationship with the notoriously chaotic and rough style of live in the big city, especially for artists searching for their path to inspiration.

Knox touches on tales of love, loss and heart-ache on Heart Strings and Never Letting Go. In between these love songs, Cog In The Machine and Immigrant Hands take a darker sounding approach.

Will Knox’s The Matador And The Acrobat the most musically coherent collection of songs I have heard all year. The emotion and atmosphere conveyed by the vocals, all of the instruments, and the way they all interplay with a keen ear for dynamics make this album a most interesting and enjoyable experience from start to finish.

Will was kind enough to share some background information on the new record:

SHRED: How long did it take to record the Matador & the Acrobat? (How long have you been waiting for a chance to record?) Was it all done in the same studio?
Will : Tracking took 5 days (mixing and mastering took a little longer).Everything was all done at Flux Studios in New York (http://www.fluxstudios.net/). I met our engineer, Meredith McCandless 2 years ago. She introduced me to our producer (and owner of the studio), Fab around the same time. We’d been talking about doing a record together since we met, so I’d say we’d been waiting to record
for around 2 years!

SHRED: I notice you have the option on your site to order a vinyl copy of The Matador & The Acrobat, What do you think of the recent trend of selling vinyl copies of cds?  It is profitable?
Will: I had a 2 hour conversation with someone about this the other night. We concluded that vinyl is awesome, and its only getting awesommer. It sounds great and it’s selling  - especially when you give ‘MP3 download cards’ away with your record. I just saw they’re selling record players for $89.99 that transfer your 12″ record to MP3’s on your laptop via USB.  I can see CD’s dying out to Vinyl & MP3 download cards. Vinyl is fun. There’s something fantastic about how tangible a record is, and it also makes the artwork so much clearer. Virgin Megastores & Tower Records closed down in the heart of Manhattan, but the local vinyl/record stores in Brooklyn & Queens are staying open – that’s good enough proof of profit for me.

SHRED: One of my favorite things about this album is the instrumentation, do you plan to stick with your current band? Or is being a solo artist your main focus?
Will: Both – this started off as a solo project and a band grew around that. I’m really enjoying playing with these guys and plan on doing that indefinitely. I think the sound has the potential to expand with other
instrumentation, but I’m sure if it does it will happen organically and appropriately.

SHRED: Could you give some background on your thoughts behind the symbolism of The Matador and the Acrobat? Your lyrics are very narrative, yet also quite symbolic and poetic, how did you come up with idea for the title?
Will: The Acrobat is me, or you. The Matador is the voice inside our heads that tell’s us to do things we’re too scared to do. I have no idea where it came from, it just got scribbled down on a bit of paper! Though I did go through a fascination with the circus and its wealth of metaphors. I think I was looking for a contrast to a timid acrobat- somehow a daredevil matador dressed head to toe in red came to mind.
SHRED: Your latest album flows together really well, I enjoy The Matador And The Acrobat interludes I, II and II”, the overall atmosphere is very coherent and seems well thought out. Was this intentional? Was the track listing carefully thought out or is the connection just a result of your style as a musician?
Will: I’d been speaking to Fab (producer) and we definitely wanted to create an album as opposed to a collection of singles. The interludes used to be one whole song, but I wasn’t happy with the way they connected when put together, so I suggested splitting them up at the beginning, middle and end of the record to help it feel more like an album. The track listing took a bit of time to figure out, but it definitely tells a story.

SHRED: What are your immediate plans for the future? New tour’s in the works? Long term plans?
Will: Short term plans are to tour and tour some more. I’ve got a short run of Northeast dates in January & February, and HOPEFULLY we’ll be doing something in Europe mid-2010. The only problem is touring costs some money upfront, so immediate plans are to make that money. If you have any betting tips, let me know. Long term plans are to make another album, go on tour and tour some more. I’d like to get a dog and some
health insurance too.

Visit  www.will-knox.com and Will’s Myspace page for more information. http://www.myspace.com/willknoxmusic

Rating : 10/10

Top Tracks: Cog In The Machine

A Painted Smile

Never Letting Go