THE SECRET HELICOPTERS – AN IMAGINARY SOUNDTRACK FOR AN IMAGINARY FILM
Over the years, Matt Watson has made some great music, be it with Huck or as a solo artist. Indeed, the Grounded and The Endless Shipwreck albums are among my favourites. The Secret Helicopters is his new project. It is arguably a significant shift in direction but is definitely Matt making music for the fun of it.
Over the course of eleven tracks, the music moves from indie-dance to pure pop to massive anthemic rock to grunge and more. This is an acknowledgment of disparate influences, without ever coming close to ripping those influences off. Such variation in style could result in a confused mess in lesser hands. There is more than enough nous and originality here to bring the various strands together into a very satisfying whole.
Everything Changed is pure, guitar driven pop. Take My Hands is big pop rock that recalls Simple Minds at their best. Out Of Mind could be a new wave Wonder Stuff. That’s What I Call Sound could be Public Service Broadcasting circa Inform Educate Entertain. The songSecret Helicopters comes in two parts. The first is a big glam-grunge stomper with a searing guitar solo whilst the second is space-funk-rock.
Available to download on Bandcamp with a pay-what-you-can price tag this is a cracking album that is well worth investigating.
9/10
