When it came time for fifth full-length ‘Many Times,’ Matt Hegarty needed to try something different. The Aldershot songwriter, better known as Matthew and The Atlas, was keen to follow up 2023’s ‘This Place We Live’ quickly, jumping straight back into the studio at the end of that same year. Tapping up Bear’s Den member and producer Kev Jones for the challenge, they approached ‘Many Times’ with a production style antithetical to its title: each song was to be recorded in as few takes as possible, stripped-back and direct-to-tape, with no overdubs.

This process, the pair explain, was intended to capture Matt’s songwriting in its purest form. Recorded over just two days at the iconic Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales, “the idea was just to capture a moment in time that is very, very honest and open,” Jones says. Inspired in part by Nick Drake’s ‘Pink Moon’ (which was itself captured over just two nights).

“We said to ourselves that I shouldn’t rehearse too much,” says Matt. “It’s a balancing act – you have to write the songs, and know the melody and the lyrics, and how you’re going to perform it. But only up to a point – you’re still trying to capture something a bit truer to its original form; something you haven’t over-rehearsed or refined down.”

It’s an approach that was taken to avoid the slow gestation process and over-thinking that Matt openly admits led to the four-year gap between his previous two albums. “I definitely tend to disappear into my studio space,” he says of previous records, “There’s definitely been a lot of overthinking in my home studio, and working on things, and taking a lot longer than I thought.”

For ‘Many Times,’ then, it was a total about-face in terms of approach. “I really wanted to do the complete opposite of that,” Matt explains, “and not think about instrumentation – just think about songwriting.”

Capturing those songs in their rawest form led to some of ‘Many Times” most stunning moments coming from the most unlikely of places. From the engineer running around the studio mid-take, to re-position microphones while Matt was still ‘in the zone,’ to rhythmic thigh slaps from Kev during the recording of ‘Standing Here’ adding one of the record’s only embellishments – and taking the track to a new dimension in the process – it’s a record that thrives on its simplicity. “It’s because the elements are so simple, the minutiae is massive,” says Matt.

“There was always an element of uncertainty about it, which I think was a good thing,” he continues of the recording process. Recording to tape – an expensive method in an increasingly digital age – “gave it an element of pressure,” he admits. But despite the pressure Matt might have felt, ‘Many Times’ feels like Matthew and The Atlas’ most effortless release in a decade.

“You’ve got nowhere to hide, the songs have to speak for themselves,” says Kev of the approach, and it’s something Matt agrees with. The result is a record which houses some of Matthew and The Atlas’ most brilliant songs to date.

Mariee Siou, of Eastern European and Hispanic ancestry, is a healing singer, wordsmith and visionary artist, channeling and transmitting medicinal qualities through her music for over 17 years.

Siou has been a fixture in the Neo-folk scene since her 2007 debut “Faces in the Rocks”—now acclaimed as a cult classic in the indie music world. She is revered for her delicate finger picking and poetic mysticism, often drawing, as from the ether, immense feeling through a voice of soft potency and otherworldly wordsmithing. She is known as a healing singer and as being a visionary artist, channeling and transmitting medicinal qualities through her music.

The songs continue to come to Mariee Siou, and her approach as a singer continues to mature. The flowing melodies and quivering vibrato of her voice, as well as the poetry itself, continue to locate themselves and their work with a more solidly grounded precision as to just what that work is. Her most recent songs most deeply reflect this clarity of vision and acceptance of both her role as an artist and the endless need for that role in this changing world. Mariee Siou brings us back to the child and the grandmother in ourselves, in a time in which it has never been more needed — and she intends to keep it up as long as she has a voice.

Mariee Siou has extensively toured Europe and the US, and opened for acclaimed artists like Mazzy Star, Buffy St. Marie, Bert Jansch, Brightblack Morning Light, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, and Joanna Newsom. In 2021 she played Le Guess Who? In Utrecht, Netherlands, at the invitation of Phil Elverum of The Microphones/Mt. Eerie, and she continues to tour the US and Europe.

Colin McGovern brings unpretentious, acoustic guitar based singer songwriting to the forefront with influences ranging from 60’s folk to 90’s alternative. His unexpectedly powerful tenor vocals and thoughtful narrative have distinguished him within the Passim community, where he has been featured in multiple Campfire and Oktoberfest performances, and as a special guest for the Power Outage Party.

Join us February 6 as Colin celebrates the release of his first EP, “The Salton Sea.” Produced by Zachariah Hickman, this recording has performances from many local and national folk music luminaries, such as Alisa Amador, Mark Erelli, Joe K Walsh, Elizabeth Ziman and more. This will be Colin’s first time headlining Club Passim – and he’s bringing a full band to back him up. Come and join us – and see what all the fuss is about.

Grace for the Going (Latent Recordings) is Talia Schlanger’s intimate and explosive debut album. It’s a reflection of her reverence for the power of words, genuine love of connecting with people, and passionately eclectic musical taste. Her inspiration runs deep, from Roberta Flack’s quiet confidence to the raw freedom of Jeff Buckley, from Missy Elliott’s electric cadence to Patti Smith’s fearless poetry, and from Paul Simon’s pristine storytelling to the honest ache of Nina Simone. Schlanger’s approach to making music is the result of a lifetime of deep and broad listening, as a music fan with an open heart and hungry ears.

Known as the articulate and encyclopedic former host of the NPR-distributed radio show World Cafe, Talia has interviewed some of the most exciting musicians and artists working today. You may also recognize her as a frequent guest host of CBC’s q with Tom Power or from Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin. She has hosted numerous primetime music-related TV specials for CBC and is a Canadian Screen Award Winning producer. Talia began her professional performance career in theatre at age 14 and her various theatre credits as a singer/dancer include the original Canadian cast of Queen’s We Will Rock You and the first US tour of Green Day’s American Idiot. Schlanger has earned a reputation for her natural ability to connect with artists, especially songwriters. Yet for someone who had spent her whole life singing, she realized she was using her voice exclusively to help other musicians tell their stories. “If there’s one thing I learned from talking to artists,” Schlanger says, “it’s that nobody hands you a permission slip and says ‘you are allowed to make art now.’ You either do it or you don’t.”

While the nine songs on Grace for the Going are distinct in their musical expression, they are united by one common thread. It’s the same thread that runs through Talia Schlanger’s life on the stage, on the radio, and in the creation of this album– Schlanger has a timeless voice. She has something to say. And she means every word.

Sophie M. Garrigus is a true multi-hyphenate with talents spanning acting, singing, writing, comedy, composition, and more. Currently enrolled at Harvard, she has crafted her artistic journey with a delightful blend of silly fearlessness and an unwavering passion for discovering the light and levity in life.

Growing up in Los Angeles, a city of creativity, Garrigus was immersed in the world of performance from an early age. She has contributed to many artistic communities herself, cultivating a vast interdisciplinary family and performing everywhere from overseas at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Mira Rose Kingsbury-Lee’s musical “Atalanta” to on-campus improv shows.

Recently, she has been working with the Hasty Pudding Theatricals in an exciting new capacity as a co-writer of their upcoming 2024 comedy musical.

Garrigus has contributed to many artistic communities herself, cultivating a vast interdisciplinary family and performing everywhere from overseas at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Mira Rose Kingsbury-Lee ’24’s musical “Atalanta” to on-campus improv shows.

Recently, she has been working with the Hasty Pudding Theatricals in an exciting new capacity as a co-writer of their upcoming 2024 comedy musical.

Finn Hansbury is a folk-rock songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist currently based in Boston, Massachusetts. A current Berklee College of Music student, Finn has a knack for pouring raw emotion into his work and pulling raw emotion out of his audiences. His intimate style of storytelling is one that both delights and haunts listeners. Finn often uses his craft as a channel to express his innermost vulnerabilities without sugarcoating the truth, and it is this trait that draws people in. Hailing from Bar Harbor, Maine, a small town on Mount Desert Island, Finn grew up relatively isolated from a lot of the world. Through his songwriting, he shares his unique perspective to connect with like-minded individuals while expanding the perspectives of others.