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ALBUM REVIEW:Whatever Happens Next by Matthew Harvey

Reviewer: Helen Tope

Music and Lyrics: Matthew Harvey

A series of original songs, the album Whatever Happens Next chronicles an extraordinary career change for composer and performer, Matthew Harvey.

Already experienced in musical theatre (his credits include Les Misérables and Jesus Christ Superstar), Harvey’s album includes songs from critically acclaimed musical Now Or Never which was live-streamed in one take at the Barn Theatre in 2021.

Harvey began writing music during the pandemic, and you can hear this in the recurrent themes that appear throughout the album. Lyrics refer to long-held memories and loneliness, but there is a resolute optimism, especially in the cast rendition of Whatever Happens Next, that tempers the very 21st-century concerns of isolation and regret. The ballad Only You (sung by Hadley Fraser and Katie Shearman) taps into how this era affected our personal relationships. The seemingly traditional take on a love song, describing romantic love as “the light on the horizon”, develops into something edgier. The line “treading through the emptiness” speaks of our desire to cling to any scrap of security. In bleak times, love is even more precious. But in a neatly-curated songlist, the emphasis is on the future. The triumphant Whatever Happens Next repeats that “hope will survive”. Harvey’s music not only emphasises promise, but perseverance too.

Sitting between a pop and rock vibe, Whatever Happens Next switches gears from robust, emotional moments, to a song that celebrates the everyday hero. Myles’ Song (sung by Ahmed Hamad) muses on the ultimate fantasy: quitting your day job to pursue something more meaningful. Harvey hones in the sheer effort it takes to keep those plates spinning. He fulfils this fantasy, framing the singer’s desire to break free, not as a whim, but the result of visualising a better future. As we arrive at the song’s crescendo, the effect is positively heady.

Embracing change, rather than fearing it, is what really informs this project. In The Road (sung by Harvey, and a finalist in the 2021 Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize competition), the fear of time running out, “the things I’d finish if I had the time” bemoans the endless to-do list, and our obsession with being busy (or at least looking like you are). But where Harvey, as a songwriter and performer, lands on this dilemma, is left to interpretation. Harvey’s lyrics encourage the listener to explore, rather than passively imbibe. The Road refuses to nail down a particular attitude – another reason it did so well in the Stiles and Drewe competition.

It is the open quality in Harvey’s songwriting that makes the album so enjoyable. Musical theatre can often feel like it’s dictating a mood (often to move the story along) but there is a lyricism and expansiveness here that makes the songs more sophisticated. The album captures the complex range of emotions felt by most of us during the pandemic, but it is the songs that ask ‘what now?’ that are perhaps the most compelling. It’ll be interesting to see where Matthew Harvey’s songwriting takes him next.

Available to stream now

The Reviews Hub Score

Sophisticated songwriting

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The Reviews Hub London is under the editorship of Richard Maguire. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.

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