Jonah Matranga is no stranger to the music world having already fronted three bands (Far, New End Original and Gratitude), put out influential records under his “onelinedrawing” moniker, sung on hip-hop hits, done Sade covers with The Deftones, co-written with and produced up-and-coming and established bands and started his own unique, homespun record label. Now with the release of “And” his first proper ‘solo’ record released under his own name Jonah is embarking on another chapter in what has so far been a fruitful and creative career.

Jonah has the following to say about his new album.” The title refers to the idea that when we can’t imagine the moment that comes next there’s this little word, and, that keeps coming and gets us through. Some friends have been through some hard times over the past couple of years, so I’ve been thinking about that little word a lot”.

The album features the drumming expertise of Sam Siegler (Gorilla Biscuits, Youth Of Today, Glassjaw) and was engineered and mixed by Ian Love (Burn, Rival Schools) who also played a wealth of instruments from bass to piano and keyboards to electric guitar.

The album has ten tracks and starts with “So Long” which is also being used as a lead off single. It’s a bouncy number, which features lyrics that conjure up a character dealing with loss. It manages to sound both melancholy but bittersweet all at the same time. It’s a simple and direct tune, which uses nice chord changes and simple accompaniment.

“Get It Right” has a slightly retro singer songwriter feel to it. The arrangement and delivery of this track had me wondering what it would of sounded like if John Lennon or George Harrison has written this song. It’s a short song but like “So Long” it’s effective.

“I Want You To Be My Witness” sees Jonah fleshing out the arrangement with a bit more instrumentation. This track brought to mind Ryan Adams, it has a sort of Americana quality. The song builds to a nice crescendo thanks to the drums pushing things along with gusto.

“Every Mistake” is a ballad that pushes all the right buttons. Moving lyrics, gorgeous melody lines and genuinely sincere vocals come together and provide one of the highlights of the album. The song was written by Jonah with his daughter in mind but could apply to anyone wishing his or her loved ones well.

“I Can’t Read Yr Mind” is a sparse and delicate song, which deals with the complexity of intimacy. It’s very short but also very sweet and manages to put into words what many people struggle to deal with at some point in their relationships.

“You Always Said You Hated San Francisco” is a song which floats past on a gentle breeze and has a dream like quality thanks to haunting instrumentation.

“Waving Or Drowning” is a nice mid-tempo, indie pop song. It’s catchy and is driven along by a nice bass line and also features what sounds like a twelve string electric guitar solo which instantly brought to mind The Byrds.

“Not About A Girl Or A Place” sees Jonah lifting the tempo and giving us a lively rock song. Again this has a very Americana like quality and one could picture Tom Petty belting this one out if he was a bit more indie orientated.

“Fathers And Daughters” is back in gentle and delicate territory. At times the vocals go down to a whisper and it feels like Jonah is there singing in your ear. It’s a simple song, which is undeniably very personal, but I did find my attention drifting a bit during this track, as it somehow didn’t feel as focused musically as previous tracks.

“Lost, Then Found” is like “Fathers And Daughters” another delicate track but Jonahs vocal delivery leaves you in no doubt that he is singing from experience.

“And” is a very sincere and honest singer/songwriter album. Each track is finely crafted and uncluttered which makes listening to the album very easy. Jonah has a very gentle vocal style, which works great on the personal and gentle songs, but I did find after enjoying his rockier side on “Not About A Girl Or A Place” that the album could have done with some more lively numbers. I did find the album seemed to drift by like a slow moving stream and as a result it was easy for ones mind to wander. As an album to chill out to or wind down with after a crazy day at work “And” is the perfect companion. What the release also shows is a singer/songwriter who uses life experiences as his inspiration and as a result one instinctively knows that we can expect more ‘solo’ music from Jonah in the future.

Let us know your views on And

Track Listing

So Long
Get It Right
I Want You To Be My Witness
Every Mistake
I Can't Read Yr Mind
You Always Said You Hated San Francisco
Waving Or Drowning
Not About A Girl Or A Place
Fathers And Daughters
Lost Then Found
Burns