The Drought
A short story usually embodies a much simpler exposition than that of a novel. It introduces few characters in a fluid triangular plot, consisting of an introduction, a conflict, and a resolution. It’s simple and to the point, without the hassles of ambiguity and confusion a reader might encounter in a novel.
Matt Singer’s latest work, The Drought, is a collection of short stories.
The singer/songwriter, a Garden State native, currently resides in New York’s most diverse borough – Brooklyn. Like his neighbourhood, Singer’s music has always been multifarious. He has infused folk with hip-hop and rap, in songs of humorous or vulgar satires, and all the while, expressing his strong political points of view, negatively targeting, of course, the Bush administration.
But for The Drought, Singer puts politics aside and tells us six different stories in this six-track release. The song, Stacy J, tells us of a girl who dreams of making it big through American Idol. She fails on her first try and leaves her New Jersey home to Fort Greene, Brooklyn, carrying with her the ethos of being miserable “than just alright.” But in the end, her persistence lands her a spot on the television show, breaking the narrator’s heart in the process.
This Brooklyn troubadour is a natural story-teller. His creamy vocals, accompanied by very simple instrumentation, make a quality record that is stripped of all pretention and complexity.
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