Matthew Bannister releases his new album ‘The Dark Backward’

On Matthew Bannister’s new album The Dark Backward, he plays in and out of time, on a musical journey back and forth across decades.

The Dark Backward is out now on CD, and digitally.

Matthew Bannister’s musical backstory includes the much-loved Flying Nun 80s band Sneaky Feelings, through 90’s Flying Nun outfit The Dribbling Darts of Love, two well-received Beatles reinterpretations (Evolver and Rubber Solo), various solo releases under the moniker One Man Bannister, and several albums with his regular band, The Changing Same (most recently, The Changing Same Go To The Movies (Powertool, 2023).

On The Dark Backward he offers up a series of original songs, some new and a few old, woven together with the theme of time.

This isn’t a retrospective, he says. “It’s about time…”

The Dark Backward is already picking up great reviews.

“Bannister is an unashamed fan – and creator – of pop music of the kind which came to fruition in the Sixties…so these songs – rock, pop, ballads, folk, lightlydelic pop – are focused, have sharp melodies and choruses, and mostly get in and out in under three minutes.

That’s a craft in itself and something as clever and catchy as History Train…suggests a deep admiration for Ray Davies, Andy (XTC) Partridge and other reflective, observational writers.” – Graham Reid, Elsewhere

“Matthew Bannister’s new album The Dark Backwards is a really great listen…The production is great. It’s an album in the true sense of the word in that there is a coherency to the 15 chosen songs, dealing contemplatively with the passing of time, how we suddenly find ourselves at the other end of the life spectrum.

…it feels like a thinking album, and Matthew’s always had something to say…This is the guy that wrote Sneaky Feelings Husband House, Not To Take Sides, Dad and the Family Dog, and Backroom. He’s in good voice, and great form.” – Rob Mayes, Failsafe Records

The Dark Backward is out now on Powertool Records.