Description
Georgia Gothicrsquo, a magic third in Mattielrsquos run of fulllength albums, was shaped in the quiet seclusion of a woodland cabin in the north of the Atlanta duorsquos motherstate ldquoSome faraway place that just Jonah and I could go where there would be no distractions, nothing else going on, and we could turn everything off and only focus on writing songs,rdquo reflects Brown.Where 2017rsquos selftitled debut and its 2019 followup Satis Factory were written with what Swilley refers to as a ldquohandsoffrdquo approach he arranging the music and Brown the lyrics and vocals, the two working largely separately the making of lsquoGeorgia Gothicrsquo was, for the first time, a truly collaborative undertaking. ldquoThis was the first time we made a point to just be together and work out ideas in the same room. That was the initial intention… it was about learning what each other wanted to accomplish on a sonic level, and then just trying different things out,rdquo Swilley continues. ldquoEverything happened backwards. Normally, yoursquod have friends that make a band… with us, we started making music from the jump, and then became homies.rdquoCultivated by time spent together on the road touring the first two albums, it is this newfound sense of intimacy between Mattielrsquos members that enabled the writing of lsquoGeorgia Gothicrsquo not as two separate musicians, but rather as one creative entity. The album remained within the four walls of Brown and Swilleyrsquos private world for much of its evolution with recording taking place in a simple studio set up by the pair in the borrowed room of a dialysis centre, Swilley in the producerrsquos seat until, nearing completion, it was transferred into the trusted hands of the Grammy awardwinning John Congleton whose extensive list of credits includes artists as diverse as Angel Olsen, Earl Sweatshirt, Erykah Badu and Sleater Kinney for mixing. Not only does the affinity between its creators translate into an electric synergy between lsquoGeorgia Gothicrsquos words and music the brineshock of Brownrsquos taut lyricism cut against the bourbonsmoothness of Swilleyrsquos instrumentation but here too are the palpable spoils of experimentation, each party trustful enough of the other to trial and error their practices into new geometries. Swilley puts this wide palate, in part, down to the place they call home. ldquoI definitely feel like being from Georgia allows us to have a certain way of approaching music.rdquo Brown chimes in ldquoWe havenrsquot really highlighted where wersquore from in the past two records, even though those were also written in Georgia. Therersquos so much great art and great music thatrsquos come from Georgia, from all different types of genres and all over the state but take R.E.M. and OutKast therersquos this weirdness that I canrsquot really put my finger on.rdquo Swilley concurs ldquoItrsquos the same with the B52s, the Black Lips… it doesnrsquot feel like L.A., it doesnrsquot feel like New York, it feels like another planet. Wersquore not really in a lsquoscenersquo here in the same way. You have to make your own sound, create your own identity.rdquo
