Recently, we spotlighted the video for the title track from the final album from UK blues-rockers Catfish, Time to Fly. Today, we’re here to tell you about the rest of that album, a bittersweet project that stands as another terrific recording for the band to be remembered after the tragic passing of its frontman Matt Long from cancer, as well as a majestic tribute to Matt.
Compiled by Catfish keyboardist/singer and Matt’s father Paul Long from a variety of sources, including a few tracks the band recorded before Matt was no longer able to play, demos from Matt’s computer with his guitar and vocals–to which the band then added bass, drums and keyboards–and a half-written song in a voice note on Matt’s phone, the album again captures the full range of the band’s capabilities, from the all-out rocking of the opening title track and other tunes such as the grunge-guitar soaked “Sick of It All” (one of two demos found on Matt’s computer) and a “Broken Halo” sung by Paul to such at least partly quiet, serene numbers as “Don’t Turn Around”, “Forevermore and Again” (both with Paul on lead vocals) and the closing “Say the Word” sung by Matt. While often poignant–particularly, for example, when hearing Paul sing lyrics such as “I know the times are getting harder, I know you should be moving on/ don’t turn around, I could never bear to see you cry”, hearing Matt and Paul sing together on the father/son duet of “Forevermore and Again”, and just generally listening to Matt’s vocals and playing throughout the album, knowing that we no longer will be able to hear his immense talents–much of the album is also triumphant, including, for example, Paul rocking out on both vocals and keys on “Broken Halo”, soaring backing vocals from Chloe Josephine, and Matt’s contributions on the title track and so many other places across the album.
Paul, of course, did a spectacular job putting it all together; listening, you’d never be able to tell how much some of these songs needed to be pieced together. The title track, for example, is one of several songs built around guide guitar parts from Matt, with Matt’s vocals in this instance then added from a live performance, as was also the case with the band’s smashing studio cover of “Breaking Up Somebody’s Home” that, in our opinion, captures Matt at his best.
The hard, shuffling “Change My Ways” is another track built around a guide guitar part, while the closing “Say the Word” was the second of the demos found on Matt’s computer, a song the band had heard and wanted to rehearse but never got the chance due to Matt’s declining health. After Matt’s passing, the rest of the band finished the number in the studio, with the result being a stirring, mostly tender/part-power ballad that starts quiet before a smoldering, nearly three-and-a-half minute guitar solo from Matt helps lift the song to new heights, making clear why, in his notes from the album, Paul states “There was no other way to close the album”.
“Don’t Turn Around” follows a similar formula, starting subdued but passionately, and then building steam before dropping down and rising back up again, accompanied by some haunting backing vocals from Chloe and another killer guitar solo from Matt. The swaying “Lost in Autumn” is a song Paul wrote around a solo Matt played on a track by another artist and features some rich organ from Paul in addition to crushing guitar from Matt, with “Forevermore and Again” rounding out the album’s tracks. Discovered on Matt’s phone after he died, the track had never been heard by any of the band and started as a voice note of Matt sitting on the kitchen floor strumming an acoustic guitar and humming a melody. Paul then added lyrics also found on Matt’s phone, with Paul handling most of the vocals and also adding organ, but retaining the original guitar and a backing vocal line from Matt to create a beautiful ballad.
In the album’s press notes, Paul states: “Matt was not able to give this album his blessing, we never had that conversation, but we felt his music should be able to be heard and played, rather than filed and lost. There is no more, this is all there is.”
Thank you, Paul, for making that happen.
Thank you, Matt, and rest in peace, friend. Your work, both here on Time to Fly and throughout your career, ensures that you will long be remembered and highly regarded, in addition to greatly missed.
Catfish has been among the topmost acts on the global blues-rock scene in recent years, so to see them end really hits hard. But we can’t imagine a better note on which for them to go out than Time to Fly.
(Evidence of the respect and deep admiration fellow musicians had for Matt will soon be able to be heard in the form of a tribute album featuring Matt’s original songs performed by UK and international blues and blues-rock artists including Walter Trout, Joe Bonamassa, Dom Martin, Will Wilde, Elles Bailey, Alice Armstrong, When Rivers Meet, Alan Nimmo, and more.
As noted in our earlier post regarding the “Time to Fly” video, Paul and the two other remaining members of Catfish–bassist Adam Pyle and drummer Phil Wilson–are continuing to play together, joined by Alex Voysey on guitar, in a new band called Burning Rope, which had its debut gig on April 1 and also recently started recording its first album.
We’ll, of course, tell you more about both projects as they draw nearer.)