Wilder Music

By Delilah Salisbury.

Matt Hennessy kindly agreed to an interview with me on his single “the way you used to”. Released earlier this month, The Road to Victorious competition winner’s newest single “the way you used to” is a heartfelt, emotive track for lovers of bittersweet lyricism and jaunty yet sweet melodies.

The track opens with a soft and simple chord progression on guitar with raw, emotive vocals which brilliantly compliment each other. The heartfelt lyrics paired with a melody of a similar sentiment create an almost perfect match. The track then leads into a pleasant blend of jaunty, staccato rhythm and mellow vocals.

The sudden changes from a dulcet toned tune to an abrupt staccato can’t help but draw attention to the lyrics. The track’s melody makes the listener feel Hennessy’s lyrics as an abstract emotion.

As the track draws to a close, the melody slows, evoking an overall sentiment of sympathy and compassion to Hennessy’s bittersweet, verging on heartbreaking lyrics.

First of all, congratulations on winning The Road to Victorious competition! How did it feel finding out your work paid off?

“It felt fantastic, thanks! It’s brilliant to know that we have all of this coming up for us now, and we can’t wait to get on the road.”

As a magazine that aims to shine a light on young creatives in the music industry, how did you get into making music?

“I got introduced to The Smiths when I was 4, and that inspired me to start playing guitar, which then led to me joining a few bands growing up before studying music at college and university. I was mainly a session guitarist, which I still do, but the further into the industry I got, the more I wanted to front a band of my own.”

In light of your new single, ‘the way you used to’, what is your creative process when it comes to writing songs?

“I don’t really have any specific process, but I like to keep a lyric bank for when I find inspiration – if I can’t write more in that moment then I’ll keep lyrics and voice notes for later. Sometimes I find a few different ones from the past that work really well together, which is how I wrote The Way You Used To.”

More specifically, what was your process when writing this single? And what inspired its creation?

“I used my lyric/voice note bank to see what worked, and found that the different chord progressions worked really nicely together. It’s probably the quickest I’ve written a song, as the lyrics came together within a couple of days.”

Finally, on top of this amazing opportunity to perform at various UK festivals, including Victorious festival, is there anything else we can expect to see from you in the coming months?

“There’s some stuff I’m not allowed to talk about yet until we announce it publicly, but I can promise it’s a big one. Alongside that, the band and I are currently joining The Now on the Bristol and Cardiff dates of their ongoing tour, and hopefully booking in some more shows ahead of festival season! It’ll be a busy few months and I can’t wait.”

My thoughts after listening are that this song has got some stunning vocal progressions and Hennessy’s voice paired with the guitar fits very well. I loved the adorable little guitar solo post-bridge and I would say that this was a brilliant choice of single for his recently released EP “Comfort” (which is also 100% worth a listen!).