Asa Breed - Matthew Dear

Asa Breed

Matthew Dear [Ghostly International...

#07 in this month's The 20

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: The 20: ghostly international matthew dear

Matthew Dear has never quite managed to jiggle his way into the mainstream. His wide-ranging productions on labels such as Ghostly, Spectral, Plus 8 and Minus may have garnered much attention from across the techno community but his 2004 ‘Backstroke LP’ failed in its promise to fuse both accessible song forms to electronic beats.

Whilst his pounding dancefloor orientated techno under Audion may have given Dear more kudos than any of his other pseudonyms, off the dancefloor Matthew Dear’s music has never really translated into pop. Until now. 

‘Asa Breed’ brings forth an entirely new sound for Dear, and is a contender for most surprising album of the year.

Bringing together a wide array of instruments and electronics, Dear flirts with a staggeringly varied bunch of genres – indie dance, downtempo rock, complex electronica and bizarre broken beat.

All of his tracks have his distinct minimal aesthetic vision and all feature Dear on vocals - his sad and strange voice sometimes drifting out of time and out of tune.

All the tracks on ‘Asa Breed’ are standout tracks, if that’s possible.

‘Deserter’ sounds like new wave 80s pop, ‘Don & Sherri’ is tip top minimal techno, and ‘Give Me More’ is idyllic soft rock based around acoustic guitars.

On ‘Good To Be Alive’ Dear fuses sample-heavy disco house beats with detuned synths and a groundbreaking breakdown.

This is cutting-edge electronic music like nothing that has come before - Matthew Dear has an ambitious mind and with ‘Asa Breed’ he has proven himself to be one of the most talented producers in electronic music.

Like Two Lone Swordsmen’s new album ‘Wrong Meeting’, ‘Asa Breed’ is impossible to pigeonhole, predict or avoid, and again it is a record that will appeal to both electronic music fans and indie kids alike.

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