Matthew and the Atlas

Although UK based, two thirds of the band hold American passports - and indeed the sound they make together is a textured and dreamy take on Americana filtered through a distinctly English folk sensibility, with Hegarty’s remarkable, haunting vocal the glue that binds it together. The band came together when, in late 2009, London based Communion Records (the creative hub of the West London nu-folk scene that spawned Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling et al) called Matthew and said they wanted to record an EP of his songs. It was the coldest of winters so he rounded up some old friends and they hid from the snow in a candlelit studio in an old North London church. When they came out it was still snowing, but they had a record – they called it To the North.

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They decided to try and play these songs together live and it turns out that once they started it was pretty hard to stop - so they haven’t really. Realising quickly that the surest and purest way into hearts and minds was to look people in the eye and play to them, they’ve paid their live dues, and steadily built a growing and increasingly evangelical home fan-base in London and beyond. Matthew and the Atlas returned to the same candlelit London studio in September 2010 to record their widely acclaimed follow-up EP Kingdom of Your Own, which is also out now on Communion Records. Currently writing their debut album - slated for release later in 2011 - Matthew and the Atlas supported Mumford and Sons in the US throughout June 2011 and toured extensively in the UK and Europe later in the summer.