Listen: Mat Hunsley – “Au Contraire”

I know I’m probably a little biased, having lived there for a few years until recently, but Newcastle has one of the most interesting independent music scenes outside of the Big Smoke (second only to Leeds, perhaps). The reason for this, I think, is the size of the city itself. There’s a Metro system in place, but that’s only if you need to really go out of town as you can pretty much walk from the top end of the centre to the river in 10-15 minutes. This means you get a diverse set of people in a small area and, from that, a musical community can easily blossom. Mat Hunsley is the newest addition to this community, recently signed to upcoming label Trellis Records with his debut single “Au Contraire” being a fine introduction.

The song seems to place Hunsley neatly amongst Newcastle’s young acoustic scene, which managed to get a fair bit of coverage with the rise of Eva Stone. She went from the obscurity of playing in pubs by the river to getting national radio play. It’s a scene full of musicians who are barely into adulthood but who still sound wise beyond their years, and Hunsley is no different.

His vocals, similar to the smoky texture of Yoann Lemoine aka Woodkid (minus the Gallic lilt), wistfully weave a story that would most likely mesmerise any audience to the point of silence. It’s simple, it’s bare bones, but it’s raw; like sitting around a campfire with the jet black night above you listening to tales of woe and yearning spun by someone with a guitar.