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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

#TheAmberSpyglass #HisDarkMaterials book 3 by Philip Pullman mini spoiler free review

The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3)The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've really enjoyed journeying through the different realms portrayed in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and this third and final entry in the story is no exception.

The realm of the Mulefa is a truly unique piece of imagination. They are an intelligent species with trunks and a diamond framed skeletal structure instead of the common vertebrates we know, and who have evolved to use the seed pods of great trees as a mode of transport but attaching them to their own frame to allow movement. The trees are dying out and threatening their way of life and Dr. Malone constructs a 'spyglass' from the sap of the seedpods which allows her to see the progression of the particle known in Lyra's realm as Dust. She observes that the movement of dust is affecting the lives of the trees.

This is just one example of how truly intricate, detailed and believable Pullman's writing is. This applies to all aspects of the story; the locations, characters and plot twists are all written with such care and attention and love for the material, that it quickly sucks you back in to the story picking up immediately where The Subtle Knife finishes. The Gallivespians are another fantastically imagined entity from the story - minuscule warriors mounted on the back of Dragonflies.

The story moves at a great pace, with moments of calmness to break up the excitement. My only issue is that the vast quantity of characters, all as interesting as each other, meant I sometimes struggled to remember who was who and involved a bit of going back over what I'd already read. This is okay for me, but for the target audience I imagine might be more difficult. That being said, the teen fiction target audience doesn't really do the tale justice, as it tackles some complicated themes from religion and physics to morality.

The conclusion to the epic trilogy was not nicely rounded off either which works perfectly for a story of this magnitude. The last thing it needed was a tacky fairy-tale "they all live happily ever after". I felt really connected to both Will and Lyra, and though frustrating, their conclusion was perfect for the tale.

I really recommend this story to anyone with an interest in fantasy fiction. A stunning trilogy that I genuinely struggled to put down.



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