Despite it being his first release under his own name, Al Matcott is no stranger to the Melbourne music scene; having performed in a string of local acts before finally stepping out on his own. Immediately, the title You Can Be Anyone acts as an encouraging invitation for the listener to step into the world of his solo music, and one that Al takes on enthusiastically himself as he effortlessly traverses between genres and sounds. On a whole however, the EP is tied together by a timelessness; comparisons could be made to the folk sound of Neil Young, whilst its heavier parts feel reminiscent of late 80’s/90’s alternative rock such as Dinosaur Jr or the Pixies, especially thanks to Al’s use of soft/loud dynamics that really amplify the mood of each moment. The EP was born in New Zealand as a form of catharsis when COVID lockdowns first began, so it also makes sense that the sound of Flying Nun jangle-pop bands such as The Clean and The Chills seeps through the record.

These four tracks act as an enthralling introduction to the world of Al Matcott, replete with soaring highs and grounding lows. EP opener ‘The Truthseeker’ grips the listener immediately with thunderous chords that make way for Al’s lyrical ramblings, as he shares a character analysis of someone in drug induced psychosis. Cleverly, instead of coming across as confrontation, the track is written in an abstract way that mirrors the thoughts of someone who might be in such a state, and for a listener, this enables the thoughtful lyrics to wash over us. Juxtaposed to this are the blunt lyrics of ‘Mediocre,’ which turns the dial down a little instrumentally as the breezy guitars allow space for Al’s lyrics that don’t hold back. The line lifted from the title of the EP, “you can be anyone” is followed by “so why would you choose to be such a mediocre person”, a scathing criticism of males in the music industry and in wider society. It acts as a call to reflect on behaviour and be better.

Playing with dynamics once again, ‘Justine’ is the heaviest track on the EP both lyrically and instrumentally, the drone like vocals and guitars packing a punch with their nightmarish quality. Throughout the song there is an almost nihilistic feel, made weightier with the refrain “let your hate fall down like rain on me”, and yet it still retains the indie-folk roots which is characteristic of Al’s style. The most personal moment on the record, yet still relatable, is the closing song ‘Friend Of Us All’, which plays as a melancholic meditation on fractured friendships - it has an intimate feeling to it almost as though it’s a tender moment between friends that the listener is privy to. With its numerous styles and feels, what is impressive about the EP is that it is at its heart a folk record, loaded with character and charm without shying away from touching on abrupt truths.

With much to dig into on this EP, Al Matcott has kindly peeled the curtain back on each track and provided the listener with insights into each moment that makes up You Can Be Anyone.

The Truthseeker

This one was supposed to be a kind of LSD-paranoia honkey-tonk jam. The spirit animal for this EP was John Lennon’s 1973 record Mind Games and I think of all the tracks this one stuck to the brief.

The story of the song is kind of about how I hated the story of that Adelaide Crows football team’s coach being murdered by his son, especially when I found out that the kid had gone to South America and done ayahuasca ceremonies. Something about that turned me off a lot and this song’s story was kinda built out of that reaction. Like I think psychedelics can be powerful and can help people learn about themselves, be better, etc, and the fact that this kid’s lesson was to go stab his dad, I just had an ugly reaction to it.

Also my bassist Brendan who I recorded everything with got me onto that Wild Wild Country doco while we were recording, and I think that made its way into the song somehow. In short it’s about cults. Or drugs. Or something.

We had a few different ways to play the main riff so we fed them all into a random number generator to decide how to structure the song. Our mate Courtney (who actually shot the EP cover flick), Brendan and I did some like chorus backing vocals. We also got my mate Sammy in on some sax to add to the honkey-tonk. Brendan also nabbed a bit of him playing some piano and we left that in the song because it fitted with the wtf-ness of the track.

Mediocre

This track was all about the chorus guitar pedal. Google says “chorus sounds like the same signal running through two amps with a very slight delay between them and an ever so subtle pitch difference” but to me it just sounds shimmery.

Actually what this track’s really all about is the little drum bit at (01:13) where the drum skips along. I like that bit. Fits well with the bass line.

But actually the real MVP of the song is the pedal-steel guitar from this guy James. Fun fact I actually bought a motorbike off of James for my girlfriend as a surprise for her birthday and her birthday was the day lockdown began in 2020 and the bike wouldn’t start and now it’s in the shop but it’s still lockdown and so this birthday bike is still unridden almost 18 months later and maybe I’m oversharing but that’s not the first gift that I’ve completely fucked up and I’m very lucky to have such a patient girlfriend.

But what the song’s actually about is shitty people being shitty but then at the end it’s all about “but hey, y’know, you can change, you can be better.” So there’s a twist. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

Justine

One of the other major influences for the EP was Sam Evian. Brendan and I both independently fell in love with his tunes and when we both found out that we were both in love with his tunes around the time we started recording it all felt very serendipitous.

Anyway so Sam Evian mixes albums and I reached out to him to mix this EP and he did it (which was at that point the coolest thing to happen in my life - maybe still is). And his mix on this song completely overhauled the song.

The other major part of this track was the backing vocals in the chorus and final verse. Brendan’s a real studio tinkerer and has lots of ideas and the backing vox on this one added a real almost baroque element to this song which I dug. Added some melodrama.

Friend of Us All

This was the oldest song. I think I used to play this song in my former band. It’s about some personal shit about some people from years ago but it’s also not tied to anyone or anything. Open to interpretation.

Throughout the recording we used a lot of this ‘Prunes and Custard’ fuzz pedal which is from this NZ company called Crowther Audio. They famously used it a lot on Wilco’s album A Ghost Is Born and most of what I do is some variation of ripping-off Wilco so that’s fitting.

At one of our first gigs I completely lost my voice and Brendan and our guitarist Steve had to start singing in my place and this was the song we opened with. They were both surprised that they knew all the words. I think that gig was when the band started feeling like a band. So this song for me has a lot of memories. Unless you’re Kanye I find you usually hate listening to the sound of your own tunes but I don’t mind listening to this track. Feels like an old jumper.