• How long will it take for me to receive my CD? I will package it up, sign it, and hand it over to the tender mercies of the Royal Mail postal service within a day. If you’re in the UK, it should arrive within 2 working days. If you’re not, Royal Mail aim to get it to you within 7 working days. AND while you’re waiting, you can listen to the entire album in crystal clear MP3s or FLACs!
• What happens if it doesn’t arrive? Well first of all, give it a few days! It might just turn up. But email at mattsteady@mattsteady.com - I’ll pop another in the post for you. And if you end up with two, give one to a friend!
• What if it arrives snapped, with teeth marks on it, or covered in motor oil/mud/liquid of your choice? Same again - mail me on mattsteady@mattsteady.com and I will pop a replacement in the post for you, no questions asked.
• What happens if it just doesn’t hit the spot when I listen to the CD? I have never had anyone complain about Nawglan yet! But if you truly find you are allergic to peace and tranquility, just let me know. I’ll refund you and you can use the CD as a coaster or give it to a friend (or enemy if you really don’t like it).
• Surely this is just the same as a million other bands? Well, as musicians, we stand on the shoulders of the same giants, and we have similar instruments, and similar influences. BUT I don’t think you’ll find another artist that sounds just like me. I pour out what is in my heart in a totally authentic manner, without attempting to sound like something or someone else. I think you’ll find there’s something quite different about this album. Tell you what - try it. Then get in touch and tell me what you think! I’d love to hear your thoughts.
• What if I'm nervous about giving out my details! I promise you, I will never give your email address out to anyone. Your personal information is precious. And all my emails have a one-click unsubscribe at the bottom if you’d prefer to watch from a distance.

"Nawglan" – Matt Steady. By Steve Clarke, Cuillin FM, Skye

How long have I waited for the chance to use the phrase "plangent sacerdotal tones" in a description of a piece of music? Correct: about that, and then a good deal longer. Now the chance has come with the arrival of the splendid new piece of work from the musical skyscape that is Matt Steady, which he has called Nawglan.

Calling on the Celtic mythology associated with trees which extends to the complete sequence of the Ogam alphabet, and the use of 9 trees in particular in religious ritual, Matt has constructed a major piece of instrumental music that evokes each of those Nine in turn.

The instrumentation throughout the album is almost entirely Matt’s own work. Let it be said that he is a hugely-talented musician. The talent is that of someone who can make the complex sound simple and yet emphasise the amount of hard work involved in creating and playing these sounds. He is one of those irritating people who plays any number of instruments to a standard that most of us would be delighted approach on just one. Most of them feature on this album: guitars, fiddle, uilleann pipes, fretless bass, piano and violin, along with any number of others that I’ve probably failed to identify.

Each track has its own qualities and a general review is not the place to pick out one or two. In any case, the beautiful and meditative quality of "Nawglan" suggests, but never insists – far too evangelical – that the album is a single entity. It is a delight, and the pleasure grows on returning to it over and over. It is not something to be glanced at, in an aural sense. If you do, there is a danger of dismissing it in the way you might think of panpipes playing in a lift, as someone once suggested.

However, if you insist on a go-to track, go to track 4, "Elm of the Glens", where you will be absorbed into an extraordinary bout of fine fiddling, some exquisite percussion, a very fine and accurate solo electric guitar that sometimes soars – that word plangent again, insistent bass and so on. All thoughts of panpipes dissolve away.

Similarly, track 8 goes off in its own direction, with an insistent atmospheric background and some dramatic work on the cittern from John Reed, who knows Matt’s work well and has worked with him in other musical places.

Talking of collaboration, Matt has teamed up with the wonderful Terl Bryant to provide the percussion, to huge effect and with a subtlety that is perfect for the thinking that has gone into this.

But no track represents the whole album. It is just that, a unity of Nine.

Hugely recommended, the plangent sacerdotal tones of "Nawglan" will reward any listener, anywhere, but perhaps not in a lift.

Steve Clarke

Skye, May 2020