Reviews
Perth Sounds.com
MATTERS OF FICTION CD LAUNCH
Matters of Fiction, Grand Central, Burgers of Beef
Amplifier Bar, Fri 25/11/2005
Review by Rohan Hewson
By the time Matters of Fiction started, the Amplifier was packed - they drew quite a crowd to watch them launch their EP 'All You'. They played a similar kind of music as Grand Central, but with the addition of a keyboard and harmonica, neither of which were used enough in their set in my opinion. The harmonica especially was a nice touch when it came out... it's an instrument commonly used by quieter acoustic acts, but rarely by louder rocking acts. It really spiced up the song it was in. Also quite interesting was when the singer sat down at the keyboard and played some of the slower songs of the set. He's no Tim Freedman but it worked pretty well.
Unfortunately, the songs that stuck to the tried-and-true guitar / bass / drums formula just didn't grab my attention that much... it got quite hard to tell the difference between some of the songs. Luckily, though, there were enough interesting sounding songs in the set to even it out. They kept my attention till the end, anyway, which not all bands do.
Matchbox Recordings
“ALI TOWERS is a stylish new solo artist who stands out in a world of his own. His beat driven sound is similar to an early Stevie Wonder crossed with Prince and an adventurous Thomas Dolby . Very different and full of great electronic bleeps and rhythmic sounds. The melody of this song " Grace " grows on you and stays in your head. Ali Towers is an intelligent artist ahead of his own time and here he bares himself to the world on this underground music feast. Catchy, poppy, bright and well produced while retaining a different and unique electronic Indie soul sound. Ali will Tower over you all soon.”
Ali Towers Bio
Born and raised in Nottingham, England, imported to Perth, Western Australia around the turn of the century. Plays the keys, guitar, harmonica and percussion. Started writing and performing around the solo circuit and with various bands throughout Northern England and London. Followed his heart down under and put together a four-piece band, Matters of Fiction. Three short months after the band won the “Best of the Best” Competition. As part of the prize they recorded their debut EP at Kingdom Studios with top Perth producers Les Williams and Dom Monteleone. The EP entitled “All You” is also available on Itunes.
Ali is currently performing a series of acoustic shows and is planning pre-production steps for a solo album. He is also about to begin a project called September Rememberings , a Myspace promo where he will post a different song each day to celebrate 10 years of recording music. Each song will be accompanied by a short story about its conception and the environment it was created in.
Ali’s soul is with Blues n Roots music in the vein of Ray Lamontagne, James Morrison, and Tom Waits, but he has written and performed a varied plethora of musical styles over the years including R’n’B, Drum’n’bass, pop ballads, electro, trip hop, rock and funk. In 2002 Ali even co-wrote and recorded a dance track with Neil Kerr at the Artful Dodger’s “Wharf Studios” in Southampton. The track aptly called Stay High debuted in Ibiza and the Miami Music festival where DJ Tall Paul added the track to his set. Ali has also composed pieces for theatre at the Edinburgh Festival.
Even before coming to Australia, Ali has been lucky enough to travel through Europe and America and has managed to play some inspiring venues including one of CBGS’s last ever gigs. Ali has written well over 100 songs and can be quite a perfectionist. To avoid ever making an album comprising of a couple of singles and mediocre fillers, he has been known to discard an idea immediately if it merely seems “ok”. Instead, he often looks to masterpieces such as Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, Jeff Buckley’s Grace, Radiohead’s Ok Computer, Pink Floyd’s The Darkside of the Moon and relishes in their ability to send shivers with powerful and lulling melodies and poetic lyrics. These factors will be at the forefront of Ali’s mind when he sets foot in the studio later this year.