Matilda Mann – Roxwell Review

We are in no short supply of folk pop. Quality folk pop, that is a different struggle. Matilda Mann hopes to offer as much with Roxwell, her debut album. Folk charms are beginning to feel oversaturated. Plucky guitars matched by hopeful memories and dedications to the future. Roxwell does have that core feeling, but Mann moves it on tremendously. She has not discovered the next steps of the genre, nobody has done so yet, but what Mann finds is a brilliant, warm folk core with personable, delicate lyrics. That is the key to the genre. Crank up those noise-cancelling headphones, experience those reinventions of old tones Roxwell holds. Obvious connotations on At the End of the Day and Say it Back are overhauled wonderfully, the former with committed vocal work, the latter with a strong electric punch. Unexpected tones, thrills from honest lyrics, and a strong debut is quite the triple bill. 

Subtle instrumental flickers on Dazed and Confused, the welcoming bass groove and the hopes of being the answer to another person’s problem is a sharp flip of the usual romantic view in song. Mann has plenty of those moments on Roxwell, songs which challenge our understanding of music as a love letter to this person or that memory. Heartbreakers like Tell Me That I’m Wrong and See You Later have such intimate moments to them. Lust and love trade blows and Mann’s committed vocal delivery provides a consistently brilliant tone to Roxwell. These are the highs and lows of love, put down in the studio and enshrining memories both blisteringly hurtful and welcomingly bright. Balance is key to these acoustic-led charmers, and Mann’s vocal work, her writing style and instrumental flourishes, are remarkable. Tonal consistency is what Roxwell needed, and Mann gives it her all. She floats through the upbeat but unwavering Just Because, and into the isolated vocal highlights of Only So Far Away.  

Empty hopes feature on Meet Cute, the modern world collapsing any hope the firm electric build could ever provide. Conviction is everything for a release like Roxwell, and the heady tones Mann is making here are a welcome surprise, a bold and impressive range of those folk fundamentals, ripping them from their comfortable hiding spots and throwing an electrified spotlight on them. Common sense is stripped of its use, moments in our lives where the future feels bright overwhelm the clarity we may feel in calmer moments. But such is the beating heart and purpose of Roxwell, an album bringing a realism to the overwhelming feelings we may experience in the pursuit of passion.  

Adapting those to the lighter tones of acoustic-led music is no small feat, and for the bulk of folk-pop releases, many will be forgotten. Not for one failure or another, but because they have failed to break from the consistencies of the genre. Mann’s debut features more than a few exhilarating moments, well-made and defiant instrumental moments are commonplace. A few commonplace tones from the genre break through, more to tie the occasions of love and loss to a knowable, recognisable spot. That much is fair. Mann evolves her sound on from those moments, but keeps them intact in a few songs to make sure the audience are not lost on the path she has already walked. Roxwell is a charmed piece of work, a tremendous and often subtly terrifying piece where the strengths of what we believe in, how our conviction carries us, are the most important parts. Mann maintains those moments well.