MATT WERTZ
EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN
(Nettwerk, 2006)
Matt Wertz built his fan base with performances at a network of camps run by a youth ministry called Young Life. But, I won't hold that against him. (Just kidding ... although I must admit that preconceived notions of religious people and Christian music are a couple of things I still need to work on a bit.) A few months back, I came across his major-label, secular debut (presumably, since I don't actually know how praise-laden his previous two independent releases are), "Everything In Between", and I seem to enjoy it a bit more with each listen.
Matt is a singer/songwriter in the proudest tradition of Gavin deGraw (with whom he has toured), John Mayer, and Tyler Hilton, and incorporates the most appealing elements of each. He effectively uses his ever-so-slightly raspy voice as the twine that ties together a pleasantly mixed bag of sounds ... and that's where the beauty lies in this album: he puts a considerable variety in his song stylings, but doesn't make it seem at all like he's trying to. The highlights include the foot-stamping, hand-clapping "Heartbreaker", the tender acoustic-guitar ballad "I Will Not Take My Love Away", the sweetly soulful "Naturally", and my favorite, the heartaching rocker "Over You".
"Everything In Between" is perfect for the Tyler Hilton fan who's getting tired of waiting for his next album, mostly because that's who his voice reminds me of most. But I challenge anyone who likes "plugged-in" singer/songwriters to not take a liking to at least two songs on this album. It may take a couple of listens, but it'll happen.
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