Matthew E. White

Matthew E. White, based in Richmond, Virginia, draws upon deep regional wellsprings that include Randy Newman, Allen Toussaint, and Alan Lomax. The singer, songwriter, and arranger crafts a precise fusion of reggae-infused folk-gospel, Tropicalia, swirling indie pop, and Stax-era R&B. As founder of the Spacebomb label and management group, he has worked alongside kindred spirits such as Megafaun, Sharon Van Etten, the Mountain Goats, Ken Vandermark, and Justin Vernon. White has also led the avant-garde jazz band Fight the Big Bull on tours and recordings. His first solo album, the inventive Big Inner, appeared in 2012, while Fresh Blood from 2015 achieved chart placement in the U.K. His third solo release, the consistently wide-ranging K Bay, came out in 2021. He has issued full-length projects with Flo Morrissey (Gentlewoman, Ruby Man, 2017) and Lonnie Holley (Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection, 2021).

White grew up in an evangelical home with missionary parents, including four years spent in the Philippines, and absorbed the music of Curtis Mayfield, Caetano Veloso, the Band, and Brian Wilson. During the 2000s he performed with the Richmond-based folk-pop outfit the Great White Jenkins and established the avant-jazz group Fight the Big Bull. His debut album for Spacebomb, the soulful and colorful Big Inner, surfaced in 2012, built a devoted audience, landed on multiple year-end critics’ lists, and reached number 19 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. He sustained various Spacebomb endeavors, among them the self-titled 2015 debut from singer/songwriter Natalie Prass, before issuing his own second solo album, Fresh Blood, in March 2015. White teamed with Flo Morrissey in 2017 on Gentlewoman, Ruby Man, a set of covers. The woozy single “No Future in Our Frontman” emerged in 2018, and he produced records for Spacebomb acts including Andy Jenkins and Nadia Reid. Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection, a partnership with found-object sculptor and improvisational songwriter Lonnie Holley, appeared in 2021; later that year White delivered his third solo album, K Bay. ~ James Christopher Monger