Almost exactly a year since his last performance at this cosy venue (he joked he was still using last year’s calendar) and on the surface not much has changed for mercurial singer songwriter Matt Deighton. He’s still understated in his persona, adorable during his frustrated guitar tunings and utterly brilliant in his performance.

The consistency of the latter makes me tempted to copy and paste my review from 2022 rather than seek new ways of saying the same things, but I’ll persevere because in many respects that’s exactly what Deighton himself has done with wonderful new album Today Become Forever. Released to little fanfare a couple of months ago – there’s been precious little coverage even in the type of music mags you’d expect to adore him – it’s another lovely collection of yearning, almost spiritual folk songs that are somehow both contemporary and timeless.

Despite the obvious limitations of a solo acoustic set (the album features amped up guitars and a full backing band) his live performance somehow expands on all of the above, highlighting his delicate voice – which seemed to get stronger as the night wore on – and mesmerising guitar playing, keeping the packed room enraptured throughout.

The magical show showcased material from throughout Deighton’s career, and if memory serves, the setlist mixed things up quite a bit from last year’s gig, and not just because he got to play newer tunes such as High Time (I Figured It Out) and When All Heaven Breaks Lose that are finally in the public domain. At times it felt like he was making it up as he went along and not even adhering to a setlist – cases in point including a rare outing for The Rolling Bus from 2001’s The Common Good, an outtake from 2018 LP Doubtless Dauntless and Overshadowed from Electric Blend, the only album by The Family Silver, his short-lived supergroup alongside Steve White and Damon Minchella (“he’s doing all right for himself now”).

In truth the choice of songs hardly mattered, as the evening was far more about mood and vibe than individual tunes, and picking highlights almost as churlish an endeavour as trying to figure out why this incredible musician remains undiscovered by so many. On the plus side those that do recognise his talents get to see him in an intimate venue like this. Same time, same place, next year please.

 
5 stars

Reviewed by Steve Adams at the Kitchen Garden Café, Birmingham on Wednesday 6 December.