Scott's dream songs

HE may be tired with the comparisons – and did his best to destroy them with this year's second album – but Scott Matthews is the nearest thing this country's got to a Jeff Buckley.

His astounding debut album, Passing Stranger, released in 2006 on Island Records, introduced the world to the soaring vocals and exotic sound world of the unassuming Wolverhampton musician.

Alluring and hypnotic tracks like Elusive and Dream Song were the sound of Bert Jansch folk colliding with patchouli-scented Led Zeppelin rock.

In 2007, Scott won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically with debut single Elusive and, in 2008, he supported Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on their Raising Sand European tour after supporting Rufus Wainwright on a UK tour.

His fellow Midlander and idol, Plant, repaid the debt and appears on the mesmerising 12 Harps on his latest album, Elsewhere, which is a deliberate move away from the "classic rock" sound of the first album.

He told What's On: "I really wanted to experiment on this album and was influenced by the likes of the Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam, and the rich sound of those final Johnny Cash albums.

"You're quickly pigeonholed in the music business so I wanted to prove there was more to me than the Jeff Buckley tag.

"I've now gone back to listening to old folk records and people like Wilco and Death Cab For Cutie, so the third album – which I will start recording in February – may have hints of that."

Elsewhere is a far darker beast than his debut and should sound magnificent performed live in Cornwall next week.

Scott – who last played in Cornwall at the Rip Curl Boardmasters festival alongside Paolo Nutini and Newton Faulkner – is now largely playing his songs solo (though he is joined by other musicians throughout his UK tour).

"A lot of fans were coming up to me after shows and asking why I needed to embellish the songs, so I stripped them back. I'd like to record an album really quickly like that – like Another Side of Bob Dylan or Ry Cooder's A Meeting By The River, which was recorded in an evening; albums that really capture a vibe."

You can see if Scott catches the vibe at a must-see gig at the Princess Pavilion, Falmouth on Friday, November 6.

Tickets are £12.50 in advance from www.seetickets.com 0871 2200260, Pavilion Box Office 01326 211222 or from the Hall For Cornwall box office 01872 262466 – all subject to booking fee. Unreserved seated show.