Matthew Good - Arrows of Desire (2013)

Tracklist

01. Arrows of Desire
02. Via Dolorosa
03. Had It Coming
04. We’re Long Gone
05. So Close
06. Garden of Knives
07. Mutineering
08. Hey Hell Heaven
09. Guns of Carolina
10. Letters in Wartime

By most measures, Matthew Good is a survivor, the kind of rocker who's carved out a career on his own terms. He's a star in Canada, winning a Juno in 2011, so there is a sense of assurance on Arrows of Desire, his 13th album. He recalls the classic alternative rock of the '90s in both sound and feel - his vocal timbre can recall Matthew Sweet, and the guitar ballast any number of late-'90s bands, from Better Than Ezra on - but, as a survivor, his sharpest skill is his craft. Good writes clean, efficient songs that balance soul-baring with sculpted melodies, and if the music feels somewhat frozen in time - this is the kind of full-throated, big-budget alt-rock that was all the rage in the late '90s and isn't much heard in the new millennium - it nevertheless is performed with a passion that gives it freshness.

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