With his seventh solo album, Ralph Maten proves once again that he doesn't bear the nickname "The Velvet Man" for nothing.
He worked on the album for a year beforehand: wrote songs, wrote lyrics, collected ideas. Everything recorded and sung by himself and also self-produced in his own studio. Here their own compositions flow calmly and with a touch of jazz into the mixer and like balm into the ears.
10 of the 15 titles are 100% his own pen. But Maten also put his own stamp on the cover versions, such as "Streets of London" or "Wonderful Life". He juggles between pop, rock, jazz, blues and reggae. But his trademark is and remains: voice and piano. The title "You're Under My Skin", a homage to Frank Sinatra, would probably have pleased "Old Blue-Eyes".
As with his last studio album "Cheers For Tears" (2018), Ralph Maten has also created a beautiful duet with "Let Me Down Easy" on "Colours" together with his daughter Lea-Tamara Maten (15 years).
Vocally, Maten is in top form, but the three instrumentals also fit seamlessly and reflect the melancholic mood of the album. Here Maten has dedicated himself to Nils Frahm. And on his last visit to a small jazz club, he felt strangely ashamed of a drunken business man who loves less music and more "seeing and being seen". Maten then created The Grasshopper In The Jazz Club.
All in all, a disc that is well worth listening to and that is best enjoyed in front of the fireplace with a glass of red wine! Text: F. Karsten / Amp Media
Ralph Maten's COLORS will be available in physical stores worldwide from April 24th and of course on all digital sales and streaming platforms.
01 Love Is Blind
02 Your Daughter
03 Open Door
04 Some Call It The Blues
05 Jump On My Wagon
06 Streets Of London
07 You're Under My Skin
08 Wonderful Life
09 Let Me Down Easy
10 Nils Frahm At The Bottom Of The Sea
11 Once Upon A Time In The West (Nils Frahm In The Desert)
12 salute
13 Whip You
14 A Grasshopper In The Jazz Club
15 You've Got A Friend In Me
