Canadian-born Wendy Matthews arrived in Australia in the early ‘80s to record backing vocals for a Glenn Shorrock (of the Little River Band) solo album and to join his band for a national tour.  Following the tour’s conclusion, Matthews decided she wasn’t going home and stayed put in Sydney to plot her next move.  Session singing became a reliable way to pay the bills and further her career, and this saw Wendy appear on albums by noted Aussie artists such as Jimmy Barnes, Icehouse, and Richard Clapton.  She spent a good while recording and touring with the Models as a relationship developed between Matthews and the group’s frontman Sean Kelly. 

Constant singing both in the studio and on the road for such an array of artists took a back seat, however, in 1989 when Matthews joined Absent Friends and began recording lead vocals with the group.  The band was a side project for a couple of members of the Models and INXS (James Valentine and Garry Gary Beers), and they soon had a massive hit on their hands with “I Don’t Wanna Be With Nobody But You,” which finally introduced the nation to Matthews’ majestically soulful voice.  Following the breakup of Absent Friends the very next year, Matthews recorded and released her debut solo album, the soul-pop gem Émigré. 

More hit singles (“Token Angels,” “Let’s Kiss [Like Angels Do],” and “Woman’s Gotta Have It”) ensured that Matthews was no one-hit wonder, and after a tour and quick break, she began work on what would become her finest album to date.  Lily was born out of a trip back to Canada, during which Wendy learned of her heritage and family history.  So with her creative juices flowing and a small but brilliant group of musicians (Beers and John Farris of INXS and Booker T. Jones on keys), Matthews headed to L.A. to get to work and later returned home to Sydney to put the finishing touches on Lily. 

This record is a beautiful mixture of soulful pop ballads and Latin and funk-inspired, up-tempo tracks that all create the right soundscape to showcase Matthews ‘wonderful voice.  Her voice is one of the most soulful and sensual I have ever came across, and it gives her so much freedom to record whatever style of material she desires.  Lily is a prime example of that, as she paints the most vivid imagery with seemingly no effort at all on the sublime “Face Of Appalachia” (a nod to her heritage) and the album’s heartfelt closer, “Inexorably Yours.” 

One of my favorite moments on the record is Matthews’ extraordinary take on the soul classic “T.K.O.,” which finds the infectious laid-back groove a perfect foil for Wendy’s somber but powerful delivery.  The blues-fueled “Walk Away” is the kind of exuberant pop song that Matthews revels in, as it requires nothing more that her unique voice to make it a memorable one.  The autobiographical “Friday’s Child” is just one of the most moving songs one could ever wish to hear and it became the record's second biggest hit. 

The song that really took off, though, and cemented Lily’s place on the charts is still the most beautiful song I think I have ever heard – ever.  “The Day You Went Away” on paper is really nothing more that touching song that deals with mourning the end of a broken relationship. In Wendy’s careful hands, though, she made it so much more and all because of that remarkable voice of hers.  Backed simply by a piano, she gives the most passionate and haunting delivery that never fails to stop me in my tracks whenever I hear it.  The hurt and sense of betrayal is clearly evident (“After this long is there nothing I’ll keep?”).  It truly is a remarkable song.  The melancholy doesn't last long, however, with the uplifting hit single "If Only I Could," the album's sole chill-out song, coming along to brighten things up. 

The most eclectic song to be found on Lily is the enchanting “Quite Art,” which is the only lyrically evasive song on the record, but the cool thing about it is that you can interpret it many ways depending on your mood.  Saying that there is no filler on this record would be an understatement as the album tracks are so strong and meaningful; cuts like “Mother Can’t Do” and “Naming Names” are both integral parts of Matthews’ story. 

Having said all of this, though, I can tell you now that the best thing about Lily is that it hasn’t aged one day since its release some 18 years ago.  It is a fresh and contemporary now as it was then, and if anyone out there loves their pop music with a lot of soul, then you really need to search Lily out, because no words I could write here could really describe just how beautiful it is.

Rating: A

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