Matthew Jay - Career

Career

Jay began song writing in earnest aged 15, and at this time his primary influences included The Beatles, Queen, David Bowie and The Beach Boys.

In 1999, aged 20, he produced a demo of original songs, recorded with his older brother Eddy. This secured him a record deal with EMI-backed Food Records, and led to the commercial releases in 2000 of the critically acclaimed EPs Four Songs and Friendly Fire.

The next release was the debut album Draw, from which three singles were taken: "Let Your Shoulder Fall", "Please Don't Send Me Away", and "Call My Name Out". "Please Don't Send Me Away" caught the attention of the media, who drew comparisons between Jay and Nick Drake. Further press articles grouped him with Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley and David Gray. GQ called the album "one of the most impressive debuts of recent times".

However, after Draw was recorded, Jay’s creative influences were starting to change, and he was developing wider musical interests, partly due to his involvement in the club scene in Nottingham, the city to which he had relocated shortly after being signed. In later interviews he cited hip-hop as a source of inspiration.

At the tail end of 2002 Jay parted amicably from EMI, and began work on the songs which would form his second album. However, the work was not completed, as Jay died suddenly in the early hours of 25 September, in an unexplained fall from an apartment block in London.

Initially, assumptions were made regarding the manner of the singer's death. Information made available to the public was a statement released by Jay's family, which said that he had been alone at the time. However, later it was revealed that in fact on the night of his death other people were present, and one of these is still being sought in order to obtain a statement. Jay was not known to have been depressed, and he had spoken cheerfully to his family earlier the same evening. An inquest into his death returned an open verdict.