Matt Dorrien - In the Key of Grey (2018) Hi-Res

The people who took a look at that mid-year list I posted the other day are aware that my absolute favorite songs of the year so far are Matt Dorrien’s I Can’t Remember and All I Wanted To Say. They are both outtakes from this wonderful album In The Key of Grey that came out on Mama Bird Recording Co on the 18th of May. It’s a charming piano-driven album that echoes the work of Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman and Brian Wilson and goes even further into history to The Great American Songbook era. The whole album is a treasure, but those two songs I mentioned above are the standouts for me. I can just feel the deep pain and burning loneliness in every note. I Can’t Remember probably hits even another level of heartbreak due to the fact that I live here in the north. I passionately hate Finland in December, because the sun sets around 3 or 4 pm and the only chance to see the daylight is through the factory window. It’s dark when I go to work and it’s dark when I get back home. So perhaps that’s another reason why the chorus where the love disappears like the sun in December feels overwhelming in its longing intensity. However, it’s not really the sadness and the melancholy of it that gets stuck in the heart of the listener. The overwhelming sadness collides with a deep-seated warmness and gentle timeless beauty and the album turns out to be a very kind and comforting companion. In The Key Of Grey is one of my favourite albums of the year so far.