Love Changes Everything: A Listen To LOVE By Matthew Holland And All The King's Men

Matthew Holland and All The King's Men own a voguish name, wouldn’t you say? How we love it when the backing band is cited, like alternative prodigies Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds say, so we’re already on good footing here.

With Holland’s heart belonging, like many, to the revolutionary period of the 60s, The Byrds, The Doors, and Bob Dylan are admired by him and infused into his style, full of harmonies and that light dusting of psychedelia. Just like his heroes, songwriting is at the heart of it all.

Recorded and produced by Dean Glover, his new track LOVE was released last week alongside a music video filmed by Barnaby Fairley. Matthew created it when he felt an overwhelming urge to respond to the influx of hate the world is experiencing currently, and kindness and understanding in our lives seems essential more than ever. Matthew expands, “We’re living in quite surreal times that seem to be peddled by hate, so this is a direct response to that. At the moment, everybody needs more love in their life, for themselves and each other.”

An intriguing thing to note about the song is that it surprisingly holds an exceedingly 90s feel, with its uplifting guitars and admired use of the organ. Maybe what this shows culturally is how much the 60s influenced the 90s or how classic music never ages. With an easy-going positivity, it’s a sing-along ditty that should find itself welcomed with open arms on the radio, dancing over the airwaves.

The video is a colourful number that is a desirable match for the song where the retro-ness imagery is brought into our modern-day with a kaleidoscope of colour. Layered with the lyrics washing over the ensemble of Ben Robinson (drums), Tino Caine (bass), and Andrew Smith (percussion/backing vocals), they display a pleasure in their performance. Lyrics “The moon and the stars in sky dance around in this universe of love." spreads the advice that there is a bigger picture that we are all part of. Just like standing on top of a mountain and looking down at the natural view of our world, LOVE by Matthew Holland And All The King’s Men is a timely reminder to breathe.

Article by Beverley Knight