Ajay Mathur: 9 to 3
Ajay Mathur
9 to 3
(Yakketeeyak)
India-born, Switzerland-based singer-songwriter Ajay Mathur presents some rather cool ditties on 9 to 3. The big, jangly, straight-ahead âSitting By Your Cradleâ opens, a bare-bones of a track where we get Mathurâs voice up front in an otherwise lackluster beginning tune. Not to worry though, this album opens up brilliantly from here. âNothing Really Mattersâ sees the first of Fausto Mediciâs inventive percussion and the roil and spit of Christian Winikerâs sly guitar colorings. This is a very nasty little snaky track, exposing Mathurâs expressiveness and his strong ability to weave and deliver a great lyric. âMy Worldâ is built over echoey snare, a low, sexy vocal, and teasing child-like backing vocals in the chorus, investing the tune with an unexpected singability. âAll Up to Vanityâ again presents a clean guitar, superb walking bass from Richard Hugener and guitar flip-offs from Winiker. I absolutely adore âPassword Loveâ with itâs distorted guitar, almost Elvis Costello style. The lyrics again are one of Mathurâs strong points here â wry, quick, and to-the-point. âSurfing Girl (Cyber Monday Mix)â has the band as much sounding like Dick Dale as they do The Go Goâs. Again Hugener is the one to watch here; he is all over this song that presents a Mathur talking vocal. Mathur is brash and unapologetic with his bouncing from style to style, his expert rendering of wry lyrics about love and circumstances, and the use of a wide range of colorful sounds and instruments from a band that plays them wonderfully.