Matthew Jay
Encyclopedia
Matthew Jay was an English
singer-songwriter
, who was often likened to artists such as Nick Drake
, Badly Drawn Boy
, and Jeff Buckley
.
The son of two folk
musicians,
he was born in Plymouth
, England
, and moved to Abergavenny
, South Wales
with his family when he was ten. He then moved to Nottingham
after getting signed.
, Queen
, David Bowie
and The Beach Boys
.
In 1999, aged 20, he produced a demo of original songs, recorded with his older brother Eddy. This secured him a record deal with EMI
-backed Food Records
, and led to the commercial releases in 2000 of the critically acclaimed EPs Four Songs and Friendly Fire.
The next release was the debut album Draw, from which three singles were taken: "Let Your Shoulder Fall", "Please Don't Send Me Away", and "Call My Name Out". "Please Don't Send Me Away" caught the attention of the media, who drew comparisons between Jay and Nick Drake
. Further press articles grouped him with Elliott Smith
, Jeff Buckley and David Gray
. GQ called the album "one of the most impressive debuts of recent times".
However, after Draw was recorded, Jay’s creative influences were starting to change, and he was developing wider musical interests, partly due to his involvement in the club scene in Nottingham
, the city to which he had relocated shortly after being signed. In later interviews he cited hip-hop as a source of inspiration.
At the tail end of 2002 Jay parted amicably from EMI, and began work on the songs which would form his second album. However, the work was not completed, as Jay died suddenly in the early hours of 25 September, in an unexplained fall from an apartment block in London.
Initially, assumptions were made regarding the manner of the singer's death. Information made available to the public was a statement released by Jay's family, which said that he had been alone at the time. However, later it was revealed that in fact on the night of his death other people were present, and one of these is still being sought in order to obtain a statement. Jay was not known to have been depressed, and he had spoken cheerfully to his family earlier the same evening.
An inquest into his death returned an open verdict
.
On 24 September 2006, "What Would Love Do Now?", one of the songs Jay had been working on shortly before his death, was released exclusively for download.
In June 2007, EMI gave the rights to the videos of all three Matthew Jay singles to Jay's family, and they in turn decided to make the videos available for download, and declared that all profits from the sale of these video downloads should go to the UNICEF Born Free from HIV campaign, as UNICEF was a charity that their son supported.
Over the next 12 months, Matthew's friends and family worked together to complete the songs Matthew had left behind. Taking the recordings of vocals and acoustic backing which they had found on Matthew's computer after his passing, they slowly and considerately built full songs upon the framework he'd provided, until they had a dozen finished tracks. The result was 'Further Than Tomorrow;' an album of previously unheard material. This, together with a single 'Our Time,' and a new accompanying video, were released in the summer of 2008.
The works met similar critical acclaim to Jay's earlier releases, securing airplay on key radio stations, and a high ranking in respected music publications, including Q Magazine, who instantly made 'She Didn't Understand' their track of the Day.
When released for sale on Amazon.co.uk on 30 June 2008, 'Further Than Tomorrow' sold out in one day - illustrating the enduring interest in Jay's music.
On Friday 10 October 2008 a tribute concert was held to celebrate the music of Matthew Jay. Nine acts, including Starsailor's James Walsh, and Chris Difford from Squeeze performed one of Jay's songs, as well as showcasing their own work.
The concert was at The Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, UK, and all profits were donated to Amnesty International.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, who was often likened to artists such as Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
, Badly Drawn Boy
Badly Drawn Boy
Damon Gough is an English alternative music singer/songwriter. He was born on 2 October 1969, in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. He grew up in the Breightmet area of Bolton, Lancashire, England....
, and Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
.
The son of two folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
musicians,
he was born in Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and moved to Abergavenny
Abergavenny
Abergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located 15 miles west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 6 miles from the English border. Originally the site of a Roman fort, Gobannium, it became a medieval walled town within the Welsh Marches...
, South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
with his family when he was ten. He then moved to Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
after getting signed.
Career
Jay began song writing in earnest aged 15, and at this time his primary influences included The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
and The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
.
In 1999, aged 20, he produced a demo of original songs, recorded with his older brother Eddy. This secured him a record deal with EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
-backed Food Records
Food Records
Food Records was a record label set up in 1984 by David Balfe, who later took on Andy Ross as his partner. Originally formed as an independent record label with distribution going through Rough Trade Distribution, Food licenced acts to the Polygram offshoot London and Warner's WEA Records, before...
, and led to the commercial releases in 2000 of the critically acclaimed EPs Four Songs and Friendly Fire.
The next release was the debut album Draw, from which three singles were taken: "Let Your Shoulder Fall", "Please Don't Send Me Away", and "Call My Name Out". "Please Don't Send Me Away" caught the attention of the media, who drew comparisons between Jay and Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
. Further press articles grouped him with Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
, Jeff Buckley and David Gray
David Gray (musician)
David Gray is an English singer-songwriter. He released his first studio album in 1993 and received worldwide attention after the release of White Ladder six years later...
. GQ called the album "one of the most impressive debuts of recent times".
However, after Draw was recorded, Jay’s creative influences were starting to change, and he was developing wider musical interests, partly due to his involvement in the club scene in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, the city to which he had relocated shortly after being signed. In later interviews he cited hip-hop as a source of inspiration.
At the tail end of 2002 Jay parted amicably from EMI, and began work on the songs which would form his second album. However, the work was not completed, as Jay died suddenly in the early hours of 25 September, in an unexplained fall from an apartment block in London.
Initially, assumptions were made regarding the manner of the singer's death. Information made available to the public was a statement released by Jay's family, which said that he had been alone at the time. However, later it was revealed that in fact on the night of his death other people were present, and one of these is still being sought in order to obtain a statement. Jay was not known to have been depressed, and he had spoken cheerfully to his family earlier the same evening.
An inquest into his death returned an open verdict
Open verdict
The Open verdict is an option open to a Coroner's jury at an Inquest in the legal system of England and Wales. The verdict strictly means that the jury confirms that the death is suspicious but is unable to reach any of the other verdicts open to them...
.
Posthumous works
In August 2004, the independent record label Jays Music, with the backing of EMI, released an album of Matthew Jay rarities and early recordings. The collection, Matthew Jay: Too Soon, showcased many of the songs which brought the artist to the attention of EMI in the first place.On 24 September 2006, "What Would Love Do Now?", one of the songs Jay had been working on shortly before his death, was released exclusively for download.
In June 2007, EMI gave the rights to the videos of all three Matthew Jay singles to Jay's family, and they in turn decided to make the videos available for download, and declared that all profits from the sale of these video downloads should go to the UNICEF Born Free from HIV campaign, as UNICEF was a charity that their son supported.
Over the next 12 months, Matthew's friends and family worked together to complete the songs Matthew had left behind. Taking the recordings of vocals and acoustic backing which they had found on Matthew's computer after his passing, they slowly and considerately built full songs upon the framework he'd provided, until they had a dozen finished tracks. The result was 'Further Than Tomorrow;' an album of previously unheard material. This, together with a single 'Our Time,' and a new accompanying video, were released in the summer of 2008.
The works met similar critical acclaim to Jay's earlier releases, securing airplay on key radio stations, and a high ranking in respected music publications, including Q Magazine, who instantly made 'She Didn't Understand' their track of the Day.
When released for sale on Amazon.co.uk on 30 June 2008, 'Further Than Tomorrow' sold out in one day - illustrating the enduring interest in Jay's music.
On Friday 10 October 2008 a tribute concert was held to celebrate the music of Matthew Jay. Nine acts, including Starsailor's James Walsh, and Chris Difford from Squeeze performed one of Jay's songs, as well as showcasing their own work.
The concert was at The Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, UK, and all profits were donated to Amnesty International.
EPs
- Four Songs (Jan 2000 in UK) Format: CD
- Friendly Fire (May 2000 in UK) Format: CD
- Four Minute Rebellion EP (2000 in USA) Format: CD
Singles
- "Let Your Shoulder Fall" (March 2001 in UK) Format: CD/Vinyl
- "Please Don't Send Me Away" (June 2001 in UK) Format: CD/Vinyl
- "Call My Name Out" (Nov 2001 in UK) Format: CD/Vinyl
- "What Would Love Do Now" (Sept 2006, new previously unheard new song) Format: digital download release only
- Our Time (May 2008 – EMI/Jays Music Ltd) Format: Download
Albums
- Draw (April 2001 in UK – EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
) Format: CD - Draw (re-released version in UK June 2001 – EMI) Format: CD
- Draw (USA edition August 2001 – EMI) Format: CD
- Too Soon (August 2004 memorial album of rarities and early songs – EMI/Jays Music Ltd) Format: CD
- Further Than Tomorrow (June 2008 – Jays Music Ltd) Format: CD and download.