Matt Blake “Cheaper To Fly”

Not all heroes wear Superman capes.

Matt Blake found himself in rarified Americana circles after moving to Nashville and landing a job working in the legendary Ryman Auditorium. A stint as Lucinda Williams’ tour manager led to her guitarist Doug Pettibone hearing Blake’s music, and after graduating to supporting act on her tour, Pettibone produced Blake’s first record, 2014’s ‘All The Dirt In This Town’, with Williams even making an appearance duetting on one of the songs. 

Now, after a lengthy hiatus, Blake is back with his second record ‘Cheaper To Fly’, once again with Pettibone at the helm. A crack band of musicians join them, giving the music a distinctly roots-driven feel. There are precious few concessions to modernist tendencies; the rich tremolo electric guitar and pedal steel provide the main textures out front, with a solid base of acoustic rhythm guitar, drums and bass backing.  

Blake possesses an understated light tenor voice; there’s no roaring and growling in the vocal department, but the songs are all the more affecting for this. At times, you have the feeling he is almost whispering the songs to you, as if you’re leaning in to hear a conversation in a small-town diner booth. 

There are no really obvious stand-out tracks on the record; or perhaps it would be truer to say, there are no weak, ‘skip them’ tracks. Opener ‘Big Snow’ immediately sets the scene; a quick drum intro and straight into the song, with Blake using the challenges of the seasonal snow as a metaphor for keeping the faith that better times will follow. 

The title track ‘Cheaper to Fly’ follows, and unfolds its careful and delicate story so gradually and gently (opening lines “She’s scared to fly / I’m afraid to fall / She has tattoos / I like to draw”). It is a song that is as beautiful and fragile as a snowflake, so perfectly formed, with the music carefully wrapping itself around the song in perfect symbiosis. 

‘Whole New Thing’ and ‘Help Me’ cover similar territory, and to similarly touching effect. The combination of strings and pedal steel on the former is a thing of absolute swooning gorgeousness, while the latter is just so openly vulnerable it’s hard not be caught up in its moment.

There are a couple of more upbeat tracks, but these do not really break the overall feel of the record. ‘Hiding in Plain Sight’, for example, has a cool bluesy groove, one that actually might easily be heard on a Lucinda Williams record – but given a very different feel by Blake’s wry, understated voice. 

If you are looking for a genre box to put Blake in, think of the unshowy but consistently high quality of a Mark Knopfler or a Nick Lowe. This is a record where the songs quietly work their magic, finding ways to insinuate themselves into your subconscious. It is not perhaps a red-blooded record, so if your tastes run to the rockier side, it may not be for you. 

It is, however, a record that screams ‘hidden gem’; and in some ways that is a shame, because Blake makes music that is very easy to love, and it would be great to hear it having a wider platform. Nonetheless,  in the meantime, you should consider helping yourself to a side order of ‘Cheaper To Fly’; it’ll leave you feeling pleasantly full, and without any sugary bloating.