Emperor X

I first heard about Emperor X (the impressive one-man act of Chad Matheny) from a friend of mine in the Boston music scene. I listened to the musician’s latest release, The Blythe Archives, Volume Two, and was immediately taken aback by his ability to write short, catchy songs with unrivaled wordplay and creative layering.

My favorite song on the Volume Two collection, “Go Captain and Pinlighter” starts with simple acoustic guitar fingerpicking and high-pitched “oohs”–could it be as well that there’s the sound of a cat purring in the background? It’s a track for late-night drives. The song ironically begins with such lyrics:

“Pull out your pass and drive / Unmarried spieltiers don’t have eyes / We put them under root / We threw them on the basic soil and the rocks, they’re gonna make / Our quarterbacks can’t move those chains, go seahawks.”

What seahawks? What’s a spieltier? The latter is the German word for “stuffed animal,” but knowing this doesn’t uncomplicate the song.

Emperor X writes lyrics that often don’t make sense to the listener, yet the listener is still pulled in. It has to do with the way he sings his lyrics–how he holds some syllables longer than others and how he sings as if each  word is just as important as the next.

He has a wide vocal range and a pure tone to his voice  that makes his singing easy to understand and sing along with–this was validated when I saw him perform live over the summer. Although the T.T.‘s gig that he played lacked a large audience, Emperor X performed for a packed house, keeping energy high and engaging with each member of the audience.

After he played, I caught him in the green room at T.T.’s and told him I was a fan. He warmly welcomed my conversation and we talked for a bit about the music industry, where it’s headed, and how “we” (the people involved in the industry) can and should better control how artists are represented so that the good talent gets out to the most hands.

Emperor X was fresh and sincere–and it’s not like he’s new to the game. He has six albums out and has been touring for years. It was nice to meet such an accomplished musician who wasn’t jaded by the industry.

People need to know about Emperor X’s music because it oozes with artistic fulfillment. He puts care and thought into each track, enabling the listener to have a new favorite song every week because new things are able to be discovered in old songs.

Tracks one, three, and seven are my favorites on The Blythe Archives, Volume Two. All of Emperor X’s albums are available for download for free on his website. I do, although, recommend making a donation… especially if the music does to you what it’s done to me.

Emperor X is coming back to Boston on November 7 to play a rooftop show presented by On A Friday.com. For more information on the show, check out Emperor X’s website and stay updated with On A Friday.