You can blame it on Coldplay, all these sad, rather handsome gentlemen with the melancholic choruses and ethereal guitars. Actually, the trend really began with Radiohead, but it was Coldplay that brought that particular sound to the mainstream. And so what are we to make of American singer/songwriter Matthew Chase(http://www.matthewchasemusic.com), who is falling in a similar line? Well, considering how heartwarming yet, for the most part, rocking the tunes are on his six-cut EP, "Everything," we applaud him.
And so we shall.
The main difference between Chase and the countless Chris Martin pretenders (don't get me started on the vastly overrated Keane) is that he is equipped to pull off both sides of the style: the anthemic rock aspect with the booming riffs ("Fall" in particular has sweeping, epic guitars) and lonely Valentine unplugged balladry. Chase executes all of this without pretension, without biting off more than he can chew. He has a finely tuned voice that registers the right amount of emotion, never overdoing it or coming short of what is necessary.
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On his store page, Chase name-drops James Blunt as a point of comparison; however, Blunt has never rocked as tough as this, especially on "Feel You Near." It's not a full LP, though, and you might end up longing for more when all is said and done. But that just means we can't get enough of his company.
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