Montreal-based artist Matthew Spreen delights on new track “Cheer Up!” — exemplary of his warming, expansive folk sound. “So cheer up,” his vocals beckon amidst a lovely array of steady acoustic strums, glimmering keys, and brassy flourishes. “You can’t afford to not cheer up,” he continues into a lovely proclamation, that it’s “the best thing you can do” as the delectably woozy assortment of orchestral flourishes meld with a more traditional folk undercurrent. The production envelops in its mixture of infectious moments — especially the “won’t happen to them” refrain — and blissful, dreamy atmospherics.

The standout track comes via Spreen’s upcoming album Particles, a tour-de-force of memorable songwriting that spans from prog-folk to dream-pop. Nearly everything heard was built from the living room up: a two-channel Tascam, a 20-year-old acoustic guitar, and hundreds of samples manually placed, pitched, stretched, reversed, automated, distorted, and EQ’d to fill the frequencies and create the necessary movement. Particles releases on May 27th; pre-save it here.

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This and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.

The post Matthew Spreen – “Cheer Up!” appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.