Matt Hires
Take Us to the Start
Play Take Us to the Start
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AMG Review of Take Us to the Start
Andrew Leahey
All Music GuideAll four songs from Matt Hires' first EP, Live from the Hotel Café, make additional appearances on his full-length debut, which expands the songwriter's acoustic sound into something slick and polished. As before, the quaver in Hires' voice is nearly omnipresent, although the sheer energy of "Listen to Me Now" effectively masks that vocal tic. Although ballads make frequent appearances, Take Us to the Start sounds best at its most brisk, when Hires trades the coffeehouse aspirations of his slower songs for something more akin to driving, mainstream pop/rock.
 "Take Us to the Start")
