To Time From Time

Soulful newcomer Matilda Bond stuns with accentuated delivery, seamlessly smooth timbre and outstanding songwriting on the artfully coy and devastatingly delicate ‘To Time From Time’. A sound influenced, but not overawed by her contemporaries, you can hear the impact of both the London jazz scene and noughties Neo-soul in Matilda’s work, as she depicts a fragile, poignant image of self with such authenticity, that the listener cannot help but feel connected to the writing on a deeper level. Based on ‘Painted Poem’, a philosophical mind-field devised by the mind-numbingly avant-garde Aldo Tambellini, the combination of Neo-soul grooves, subtle and poetic writing and vibrant production is both effervescent and crushing to the listener. 

On the dainty, rewarding instrumental, jazz inclined chords and melodies are joined with intrepid bass and tight drumming. Structurally the track is compelling, with constant progression with new melodic patterns and textures. The Swedish born, Brighton based singer delivers a gorgeous, expressive performance, with her vocal commanding the soundscape. Matilda really shows her craft at songwriting; her nuanced depictions are potent, penetrating and perspicacious. The stand out line, repeated in the hook, when the artist says ‘hold my breath under shallow waves’, a sublime metaphor about how the smallest misgiving can threaten to drown our narrator in anxiety. 

Sonically and lyrically one of the best soul-pop songs I’ve heard this year, Matilda Bond is an incredibly exciting writer and vocalist who has the potential to reach the very top.