Flyin' Solo

posted in: Artist Features • Pop

It took a major label gone sour to keep Matthew Mayfield honest. As frontman for Moses Mayfield, the Birmingham singer-songwriter was scooped up by Epic Records in 2005, transferred over to Columbia in 2006, then dumped six weeks after his band’s first release. Bruised but not broken, Mayfield scaled back everything for his next release, recording 8 songs in 30 hours for $1,000. Square one’s not a bad place to be”just listen to Dead To You and you’ll hear a man relishing his freedom. The salty grain of Mayfield’s voice rubs in lines like My heart was too much for your head, revealing an emotional luster beneath the tarnish. Simple, strummed melodies and brushed rhythms keep the mood lovelorn and lonesome throughout. On Element Mayfield plays the brooding balladeer, while a cello, piano and windblown textures tiptoe around him. What if I don’t want to be the lonely one? he asks. Sorry dude, you’re just too good at it.