Matt Goodluck - 2025 - Portals

(51:25; Matt Goodluck)

This is the first album I have heard of from Matt Goodluck, but I was rather intrigued to listen to it as he is keyboard player with Australia’s Echoes of Pink Floyd, widely regarded as the top tribute band in this part of the world, and I am very much looking forward to catching one of their shows next month. Consequently, I was expecting something quite Floydian in nature, but this has much more in common with Tangerine Dream, as well as Vangelis and even a little JMJ. Seven of the eleven tracks have a guest, sometimes on bass/stick, sometimes on guitar (only one has both instruments), but they are very much here for nuances as the lead instrument is generally the layers of keyboards which build depth and passion. The sound quality on this album is superb, and when played on headphones one can get deep inside the world Matt is creating, getting lost so one feels almost bereft when it finishes.

There is a feeling of minimalism, but the music is often rich and vibrant, and when melodies are repeated there is a real purpose behind them, almost as if Kraftwerk have somehow also come along for the party but don’t really want to go to the fore too much. I would have preferred less of the electronic percussion, as the passages where there are none, move along quite nicely, or for Matt to have brought in a live drummer, but that really is nitpicking on what is a very enjoyable modern album which also takes us back to the early Eighties. This is a very enjoyable album for fans of Tangerine Dream-style soundtracks.   

Kev Rowland, October 2025

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/mattgoodluckmusic