Matty Groves - The Magical Speckled Band (Deluxe Edition) (2025) Hi-Res

Melbourne/Naarm based purveyor of psychedelic folk, Matty Groves is ready to unveil his highly anticipated third album, The Magical Speckled Band out via his own imprint Red Earth Records.

Following on from his prolific run in 2024 with the debut Aurelia and its conceptual counterpart Aurelia and The Midnight Sun, Groves continues to carve out a singular voice in the psych-folk landscape.

The Magical Speckled Band is a kaleidoscopic collection of songs written over the past several years. Five tracks were created in collaboration with close friends under the moniker of the “The Magical Speckled Band,” whose contributions bring a rich palette of instrumentation to Groves’ vivid psych-folk songwriting, with double bass, banjo, sitar, organ, drums, and more. The remaining pieces are intimate acoustic performances, showcasing Groves’ raw, unfiltered voice and guitar. This contrast between communal raucousness and hushed solitude gives the album its dynamic ebb and flow, taking listeners on a journey that is at once joyful, surreal, and deeply introspective.

Recorded with a strong DIY ethos, Groves tracked the core elements in his Thornbury home studio, before enlisting collaborators at Natural Habitat Studios for overdubs and rhythm sessions.

Conceptually, The Magical Speckled Band explores escapism through a surrealist lens. Across its 12 tracks, Groves navigates themes of urban pressure, capitalism, reincarnation, and the contradictions of modern existence. The result is a dreamlike sonic tapestry, where love and melancholy sit side by side.

Sonically, the album sits somewhere between folk, psychedelia and blues, with dreamy introspection. It's rooted in acoustic instrumentation but wanders into moments of rock ‘n’ roll and blues. Matty Groves channels the British folk revival of the 1960s, threading in influences from Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band, Bridget St. John, and Fairport Convention. Despite its influences, Groves’ warm, lived-in recordings remain distinctly his own.