Release Date: 11 May 2015
Label: Wild Sound
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 5051078939322
Genres: Rock
Description
With Mike Oldfield for an uncle, and composer Terry Oldfield for a father, Matthew Oldfield, aka Matthew the Oxx, is a peripatetic soul who has absorbed osmotically the aspiration to write and play music simply by proxy. As a child, Matthew and family lived on the Greek island of Hydra, where his father's friendship with Leonard Cohen was to have a lasting effect on Matthew's life, providing a profound part of the soundtrack to his upbringing.
After moving back to England, Matthew learned different musical instruments but was always happiest wandering the hills and valleys of the Cotswolds - until the life-changing moment he heard Bob Dylan sing 'Shelter From the Storm'; he picked up the acoustic guitar and never looked back.
He was soon emulating his folk heroes: Richard Thompson, Bert Jansch (an idol), John Renbourn and Ewan MacColl. While travelling Australia he recorded his first ever demo with Nigel Pegrum of Steeleye Span, a dazzling and critical rite of passage into the recording world.
Enamoured with the studio process he returned to England and began building a vast collection of as-yet-unreleased tracks. But soon his ceaseless spirit of exploration found him on the road again and, whilst travelling, he unearthed new music from the likes of Marissa Nadler, The Tallest Man on Earth, Hiss Golden Messenger and Bon Iver.
In 2013 Matthew returned once more to England after five years abroad. He signed to indie-folk label Wild Sound while he was still putting the finishing touches to this album 'First Aid for the Drowning' - a dizzying, intimate tour-de-force that runs the gamut of human experience, with an enigmatic title taken from the Balzac novel 'La Peau de Chagrin', and which in its entirety presents a coherent body of work through which this philosophical artist is able to project his extraordinary life's insights.
Tracklisting
Polly Paulusma
Polly Paulusma
Winter
Stylusboy
Matthew The Oxx
Nicky Schrire
Polly Paulusma
Polly Paulusma
The War on Drugs
Hands Like Houses
Wasia Project
The Byrds / Buffalo Springfield
The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
Laura Nyro
Jonathan Hulten
Pezz
