The Smallest Room
  • Menu

    Music
    Arts
    About
    Travel
    Teach

  • MUSIC
    • record reviews
    • LIVE REVIEWS
    • features
  • ARTS
  • About
  • Travel
  • Teach
0

Matthew Dear – BEAMS

First Published in Metro (Sydney Morning Herald), October, 2012

View published article (PDF)


When Beams’ already hugely danceable first track, ‘Her Fantasy’, drops for real at the four-minute mark, in Dear’s words: “fighting is futile”. From there, things simmer down into songs that prowl the dancefloor’s darkened rim rather than blitz the middle of it, though with their super-suave chugging groove they’re definitely still in the club.

From the first nightclub thumper to the Joy Division-style bass lines on ‘Earthforms’, the dubstep wobble of ‘Overtime’ and the general Bowie-esque air of manicured decadence, Dear’s bona fides as a DJ, producer, singer and songwriter all serve him excellently, with every track sounding coolly realised. The only flaw? The last three tracks all sound like they should be the closing track, making you wonder if the club’s ever going to shut.

[rating: 3.5] farinelli

MusicRecord reviews
Share Tweet

Kate

You Might Also Like

  • LIVE REVIEWS

    Floors of Heaven underwater concert (Woolloomooloo Bay)

  • features

    The ‘Yolŋu surf rock’ of Yothu Yindi’s next generation

  • LIVE REVIEWS

    William Crighton (The Great Club)

Search

Twitter

Tweets by @smallestroom

Recent articles

  • A yarn with YIRRAMBOI Blak Critic Bryan Andy January 28, 2023
  • Dua Lipa – Qudos Bank Arena November 8, 2022
  • The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart September 6, 2022
  • Zen in the Arabian desert June 6, 2022
  • Floors of Heaven underwater concert (Woolloomooloo Bay) February 19, 2022
  • MUSIC
    • record reviews
    • LIVE REVIEWS
    • features
  • ARTS
  • About
  • Travel
  • Teach

My name is Kate Hennessy. I am a freelance arts and travel writer and music critic. I contribute to Guardian Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald/The Age, The Saturday Paper, The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, The Wire (UK), NME and more.

Latest posts

  • A yarn with YIRRAMBOI Blak Critic Bryan Andy

    January 28, 2023
  • Dua Lipa – Qudos Bank Arena

    November 8, 2022
  • The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart

    September 6, 2022
  • Zen in the Arabian desert

    June 6, 2022
  • Floors of Heaven underwater concert (Woolloomooloo Bay)

    February 19, 2022

Twitter

Tweets by @smallestroom

Search