Like compatriot Delaney Davidson, whose new album we recently reviewed, Matt Hay is another Aotearoa/New Zealand songwriter who likes to cross musical lanes, albeit with more subtle combinations. His remit is country, blues, roots-rock, and Americana – the kind of sound that fans of John Hiatt, J.J. Cale, Mark Lucas and Mark Knopfler will recognise and revel in. 

Though Dog & Pony Show (produced by Darren Watson) is his fourth solo album, Hay has been treading the boards of the NZ scene since the early 90s, in bands such as Cool Disposition and Surge and as a sideman for artists such as Watson. 

There’s an unhurried elegance and maturity to Hay’s music. Mostly mid-paced, these are songs that snake and shuffle along with sublime pacing and an organic feel that never places ‘playing’ over serving the song and maintaining the soulful centre of the music. 

‘Faraway Eyes’ has a hazy, dreamy quality and ‘Lonesome Kind’ possesses some fine guitar playing that wonderfully counters and complements Hay’s keening, warm vocal. ‘Holy Smoke’ jumps from the speakers like you’ve chanced upon a on a technicolour street parade, with its brass declarations before Hay leaves us with the intimate playing and tasteful and beautiful melodic vocal phrasings of ‘Need You Now’.