Matare returns with another fascinating piece of work that further showcases his tremendous dedication to the craft. Hot off the heels of “Into The Sea,” a magnificent ode to the sea, “When Alone” acts as an adequate continuation of his previous works yet somehow reveals a fresh, improved, and exciting sound that vividly showcases Matare’s jaw-dropping songwriting and composing abilities. The entire composition shines with so many qualities that it’s nearly impossible to grasp them all in just one listen. Quite the contrary, “When Alone” is one of those tracks that rewards repeated listenings, continuously revealing all those tiny details, elements, layers, nuances, and other sonic delicacies. Lyrically, the song is about confusion between two locations, as Matare travels to his workplace for fifteen years, often spending more time away from home. The lyrics are packed with raw emotion, vividly explaining his struggle in picking a true home. As usual, Matare uses poetic, storytelling lyricism to depict his feelings and make them closer to the listener. Sonically, “When Alone” blend everything you dearly love about synth pop music, but as usually is the case with Matare’s music, you’ll notice how all those fundamental elements borrowed from dream pop, bedroom pop, indie pop, synth wave, new wave, post-punk, and shoegaze found their way into this sonic equation. Each element has its place and purpose here, working to the advantage of the song’s ambiance rather than standing out in the limelight. The artist poured heart and soul into this composition, and his effort is more than hearable from scratch to finish.
As soon as you press play, you’ll notice a thoughtfully, tastefully, fascinating interplay between guitars and synths. The guitars deliver those beautiful arpeggiated and regular chord progressions, harmonies, melodies, and themes while the additional chord progressions and pads immensely support, further elevating the ambiance. These orchestrations are heavily drenched into generous servings of reverb, echo, and delay for a more spacious, cave-like sound. The way those layers of instrumentation work together without overwhelming each other goes beyond comprehension so many times throughout the entire song. In the meantime, Matare’s marvelous voice adds another layer of melody over the top, commands attention, guides listeners on this epic sonic journey, and uplifts the entire track to an entirely new level. You’ll hear how his incredible performance seamlessly balances low, mid, and high notes while simultaneously contributing more than necessary emotional depth and complexity over an already intricate song structure. “When Alone” wouldn’t sound this good without an equally impressive rhythm section. You’ll immediately notice how those warm sounding, deep, vividly hearable basslines contribute more heftiness, clearness, and deepness to each segment of the song while simultaneously acting like a binding element between guitars, synths, and rhythmic patterns. These low-end notes play a significant role because they provide groove and detail without ever sounding too flashy. They perfectly blend into those guitar and synth works, making sound more luxuriant. Matare also expertly assembled, programmed all those energetic beats, breaks, fills, accentuations and other rhythmic patterns. Each segment arrives with a comprehensive collection of percussion that accentuate, emphasize, and elevate all those themes, melodies, harmonies, chord progressions, and pads. Each layer and element has its place and purpose here, making “When Alone” such a beautiful song.
Matare never ceases to amaze with his ideas and musicianship, and with “When Alone,” he even went a step further. With each upcoming work, he proves that synth, indie, and post-punk music, when done right, can sound innovative, fresh, and exciting like when you heard it for the first time. “When Alone” exemplifies Matare’s genius songwriting, composing, and willingness to explore music much deeper than any other artist and band ever. It’s a fine piece of sonic artistry you should immediately place on your music radar. Do not miss it!
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