Concert Preview
Matt Mays, Jan. 23, 8 pm, West End Cultural Centre
Amie Lesyk

Matt Mays is a man with a vision — literally.

Throw on When the Angels Make Contact, his newly released second solo album, and listen carefully. You’ll get a sense of fluid motion from beginning to end — perhaps because the record is the soundtrack to a recently shot film by the same name. Mays wrote the script, while pal Drew Lightfoot directed the movie.

“It’s the journey of this guy,” Mays, 27, explains. “It has a very end-of-the-world kind of vibe… the love of his life gets abducted… he travels on the road for miles and miles and runs into all these weird characters.

“He realizes that his girl gets abducted by this sort of evil, devillish character… It’s kind of apocalyptic.”

Plowing through a slew of cinematic emotion, the disc ranges from slow acoustics to intense, dirty electronics, forcing you to follow along in the story, even without visuals. Despite the departure, the scruffy East Coast rocker has managed to birth an honest album.

Mays’ current cross-Canada tour is solely to support the album because the film has to yet to hit post-production and has no release date. When you’ll see the finished product depends on Mays’ cash flow, but a teaser for the movie comes with Mays’ CD and the video for the title track is made up of footage from the film shoot.

On the road, Mays is backed by partner-in-crime Tim Jim Baker, who played percussion on and co-produced the album and who also plays the mischievous antagonist in the movie. Joining Mays and Baker are seven other musicians.

The new disc was an experiment of sorts that began as a fun side project four years ago. But Mays always had a vision in mind.

“I wanted it like a movie soundtrack,” he says, “(and) as opposed to having a series of different bands, I wanted to try it myself.”

As a result, the album features a variety of guest musicians (including Halifax buddy Buck 65) and a mix of instruments, from glockenspiel and synths to electric guitar and cello. The transition from recording studio to stage should be interesting, but if past performance is any indication, Mays will have the creative genius to pull off a tremendous live show.

Mays plans to tour the album until spring then record another full-length with El Torpedo, his regular backing band. Then maybe he’ll get around to releasing his film.

Though this order of events seems unusual, Mays is man with a plan of his own and appreciates people who follow their own artistic intuitions.

“I think any time you kind of write from a real out-there standpoint... you know, people who are on the edge, people who are recording what they are living, that really inspires me,” he says.