Young Love

Mat Kearney: a Christian rock ambassador in pop-music

It is not every day that a Christian music performer steps onto a big stage to draw the attention of a really wide audience whose members are far away from religion. Young musician Mat Kearney pulled that trick as he emerged at the market from out of nowhere. This happened in 2004, the year when he signed his first contract with a serious label to release the debut record Bullet. Just as quickly as in two years, Mat’s personality was a highly speculated issue due to the appearance of his sophomore effort, Nothing Left To Lose, still considered by many as his best work ever. With a great deal of effortlessness and genuine joy, Mat performs hearty songs alternating crooning with spoken word manner to the acoustic guitar accompaniment. The positive tone that shines through all of his works might be that very vital ingredient that is impossible to find in music by many of his colleagues. Mat’s fourth long player, Young Love, dropped in 2011, could be his most optimistic and life-asserting effort to date. There is a certain reason for that. The artist has recently got married.

Personal matters and common Christian themes

As a matter of fact, the first song off the just cooked Young Love, the one that is called Hey, Mama, is a straightforward and clear love message to Mat Kearney’s beloved wife. This piece is void of any pathos and, on the contrary, is very merry and bright, which makes it a very precise reflection of the singer’s present inner state. Another one close to the opener in terms of spirit and lyrics is Young Dumb And In Love, another illustration of Mat as a kid madly and deeply in love. However, this kind of mood does not characterize every track on Young Love. As an adult, serious and, what’s more important, Christian man, Mat is ready to share the secrets of tolerance and patience in Sooner Or Later, a true call for everyone to make up after any conflict. Of course, Kearney’s new album has some room saved for songs based on common Christian matters, such as forgiveness (Down), or keeping the faith in dire straits (Chasing The Light). The CD is closed by another heart-breaking track, Rochester, addressed to Mat’s father.

Mat Kearney has no need to change anything

While a great number of musicians bend over backwards to beat one another in the acrimony and extravagancy, Kearney works through some other aspects that have much more connection with music than shocking makeup, scandalous interviews or provocative lyrics. Mat is strongly interested in music itself. He hardly proposes on Young Love anything radically different to what has already proposed, but we can easily notice him using the same instruments as before with greater confidence and accuracy. Piano and acoustic guitar, permanent companions of Christian rock, remain music basis for Mat as well. In concordance with his easily recognizable voice, they form the singer’s trademark style that he is not likely to change. The exception is the spoken word technique that is used not as often as on the previous records, only in three songs or so. The remarkable thing, though, is that the artist is slowly, yet inevitably, moving away from Christian lyrics to pop-rock poetry, which in the end may lead to complete shifts in his audience.