by Mely Duong
Yesterday, on April 29, 2014, Matt Goss debuted his first U.S. release, Life You Imagine, through Virgin Records. One glance at Matt Goss and you perceive a dapper, suave gentleman. His image is suggestive of a smooth voice that can hit sweet highs and lows – a voice that can carry you away from your worries and to different realms through his beautiful voice and musical expression. His entire image and vocal tone is a modern twist of old school pop and minor undertones of jazz with hints of Frank Sinatra. It’s no wonder, since one of his influences is Frank Sinatra. Because of his wide musical influences such as The Police, Stevie Wonder, Nat King Cole, Donnie Hathaway, Goss is able to cross over several genres through his new release: pop, a minute amount of rock, big band swing, and an extensive contribution of soul, contemporary soul.
Goss successfully merges all genres and attributes some of the success to the hundreds of musicians on this record as there is a 24 piece brass section and a full orchestral string section for a big sound. It can best be likened to an intricate composition for a movie, per Goss. This complexity is what distinguishes him from other modern artists today, in addition to his extremely smooth and vintage feel. This is the type of music he wishes to create because he likes “to do old school-new school cool. I love the glamor and the drama in this music. At least for me, it transports me to the different eras [Rat Pack era] that I’ve always admired.” He is the epitome of a modern classic whose music captures timeless concepts.
This album took three years to create, in which he collaborated with Ron Fair, who was the producer responsible for albums with Lady Gaga, U2, and Christina Aguilera. Three years was quite a bit of a wait for fans due to the numerous amount of musicians appearing on the album. “It’s nice to know when you hear every instrument was played live.”
Furthermore, prior to the release, both Goss and Fair wanted every inch of the album to be authentic and to reflect nothing less of their best. Surprisingly enough, Goss also did his own backing vocals for the complex arrangements. Interestingly, the two butted heads over the course of the album due to their intense nature, yet they became great friends through their similar inspirations and their connection over a common goal. Sometimes, intense feelings allowed the lyrics to come first over melody, but for the most part Goss creates music in his studio alone, allowing him to write lyrics and melody simultaneously. He recommends the following songs for the specific acts of getting married, making love, and hanging with lads respectively: “I Do,” “There’s Nothing Like This,” and “It’s All About the Hang.”
If you look back over the early years where Goss was a vocalist in the smash pop act Bros, with his brother, to now, you will see that his voice has strengthened and he has further developed his smooth voice. Playing hundred of shows a year over the last six years has allowed him to train his vocal cords. He treats singing like any athlete treats an event. Recently, Goss has been headlining a show in Las Vegas, which was stressful for his vocal cords due to the dry environment, so he had to be constantly surrounded by humidifiers.
Included in his repertoire was working on So You Think You Can Dance and writing for artists such as Keri Hilson and Akon, which has been an honor for him to collaborate. For the rest of the year, Goss will continue his residency at Caesars in Vegas, play shows in the UK, various other international shows, and some other projects.
He would like to say thank you to his most loyal fans and that he thinks of his fans every time he writes his music. “[My fans are a] huge driving force and I send them all my love.” For more information, visit his site and Facebook page.
