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"From out of the dark"

From Out Of The Dark

From out of the dark is a collection of 6 songs finished during the infamous Covid lockdown of 2020, drawing musical influences from many different genres and based on different themes close to my heart.

Some with a narrative, others about how I felt a particular junction in life, playing music, writing and recording songs has been a great outlet for me and helped me deal with and express myself in a productive fashion.

With no single genre over the six songs I decided to put them out as From out of the dark, to show how something good can come from the darkness. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed making them.

I appreciate so much all the friends and family who have helped critique these tracks ready for public consumption. Thanks also to my younger sister, Hannah, for providing her vocal talents and lyric writing on two of the songs.

Please listen below and follow me on all of my social networks using the links above.

Matt x

#StarWars #Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover mini review


Shatterpoint is a Star Wars novel set after the events of the battle of Geonosis and focuses on our favourite purple blade wielding Jedi, Mace Windu.

Mace finds himself back on his home world of Haruun Kal where he is to investigate the disappearance of his former student, Depa Billaba. The only clue he has is a vague warning discovered at the site of a brutal massacre on the planet. Has his former student ventured to the ways of the Dark Side? Or is there more to it...

The planet is not only a part of the great war, but is also suffering from brutal civil war between  the local Korunnai and the Balawai, who have their own sets of brutal traditions that have continued throughout the Summertime war.

Mace takes it upon himself to resolve this and the mystery of his old padowan in one. 

What is good about this book is the nature of Mace Windu, and the exploration of the dark side of the force. Mace often feels himself pulled to it's seductions in this naturally dark planet and it feels like he's genuinely struggling to remain inside the light.

The local flora, fauna and characters are also written well, really adding a believable layer to the events of the story, which are in some places very brutal and quite gruesome. It's an intriguing story, and though there are some very slow bits, especially from the journals of Mace Windu where a large amount of reflection occurs, making the book much longer than it needed to be, itmade me want to read it through and I'm glad I did as the story has quite a satisfying outcome.

Not a Star Wars book to start with, but a good, dark read and something different as we don't have many novels focusing on Mace Windu. 

#InYourDreams by #TomHolt mini #Review


The second tale in the ludicrous stories of the company J.W.Wells and Co, and business specialising in magical pest control; acquisition of magical resources and more often than not employs a shape shifting goblin for a receptionist.

Paul Carpenter this time is abruptly promoted to the role of hero which makes a change from his usual role of searching for bauxite. He unwittingly tackles a dragon by sitting on it, discovers the leader of the Fey wants him dead and accidentally on purpose dies... twice...

In true Tom Holt style, there are lots of good things about this mix of fantasy and comedy - some really interesting ideas, especially about the afterlife, and story devices to keep things interesting.

I can't quite read Paul sometimes - he often does things uncharacteristic of his supposedly dull, fearful self, and I can't tell if this is bad writing or if he's just a bit...weird.

I enjoyed the story, and the unique ways in which Paul has to tackle the Fey who have been harassing him in his dreams, but the chapters are VERY long and the book feels like it drags for a lot of it. Could probably have been told in half the pages.

Still, I liked it, enjoyed it and would recommend it, but it definitely requires perseverance. The cast of characters makes it worth while reading as short of Paul they're all interesting and well written. A little hard to follow at times but interesting enough to make me want to finish it.