Sean Rowe, Matthew Fowler

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Fluff & Gravy Records

Sean Rowe

$20 ($15 adv.).

media release: About Matthew Fowler:

"The bright promise of singer-songwriter Matthew Fowler’s label debut lies in its acoustic elegance."   - Associated Press

"The result is his upcoming album: The Grief We Gave Our Mother, a record that is whittled to perfection. With stunningly poetic lyrics and a warm, woodsy sound, the album feels like coming home."  - The Luna Collective

“I moved to Denver. I quit my job. My grandfather died. I fell in and out of love. I toured all over the place. I spent a month living in Mauritius, the island country off Madagascar where my mom grew up,” says born-and-raised Florida musician Matthew Fowler about the ingredients of his new album The Grief We Gave Our Mother—released Sept. 10, 2021 via Signature Sounds Recordings. Fowler’s fine-tuned art of collecting these memories and displaying them in musical verse and melody is the key to his success as a songwriter. Even the act of amassing these special moments in time makes its way into Fowler’s indie-folk cannon. “My mind it sings of the memories / how they tug and cling / I lay listening” he sings in the opening lines of the album’s first single, “I’m Still Trying.”

Written over the course of the past several years and produced by Shane Leonard (Field Report, Mipso, Anna Tivel) The Grief We Gave Our Mother is a profoundly personal work of self-discovery and introspection, but more than that, it’s an ode to growing up and chasing dreams. The result is a record that’s at once bold and timid, hopeful and anxious, world-weary and naïve, an honest, revelatory collection all about putting one foot in front of the other and forging a life of purpose, passion, and meaning. “This record is the sound of me finding myself and my place in the world,” Fowler reflects. “It’s about real moments and real stories and real people.”

ABOUT SEAN ROWE:

“New Lore confirms Rowe’s status as one of Americana’s most compelling and distinctive artists.” - American Songwriter

"His kind of intensity pulls you in and keeps you there in the moment..."  - Esquire Magazine

A curious mind and a sense of adventure make for quite a collection of stories. Some play out over the course of a few minutes while others, more profound and complex, take years to untangle. Sean Rowe, an artist and nomad at heart, has made himself into the perfect repository for volumes of every variety — hysterical, terrifying, heartbreaking, mystifying, and ridiculous — and on his new record, he makes it clear that at some point it’s hard not to feel them all at once.

The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights is ripe with both dimensions. It was produced by Rowe’s friend and longtime collaborator Troy Pohl, whom he has known since he was in his early twenties while Pohl was still a teen. The two grew into their professionalism together and here, they make the most of their combined ambition and experience.  The studio Hive in Eau Claire, Wisconsin was chosen so that they could work with the Grammy-winning engineer, Brian Joseph (Bon Iver) and for its proximity to a group of musicians that Sean came to admire while listening to Anna Tivel’s remarkable album, The Question, in his manager’s basement studio. That group includes drummer/percussionist, and producer Shane Leonard, along with Jeremy Boetcher on bass, and Ben Lester on keys and pedal steel. Courtney Hartman was flown from Colorado to provide background vocals and guitar. Chris Carey provided additional bass, while John DeHaven, Jeff Nania, and Joel Yannuzzi made up the album’s brass section.