Walter Bagehot said that all the best stories in the world are but one story in reality – the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape. Perhaps Bagehot’s observation regarding escape is linked to what C.S Lewis pinpointed, ““If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
This train of thought was catalysed by Matthew Mayfield. I was altogether awestruck when I started listening to Now You’re Free. The first three tracks on this album weave hope, longing and heartbreak together with a raw honesty that left my heart aching. Mayfield is a gifted lyricist – here an example from, Missed Me:
“Rise up from the city like the fire that ate your bones
The coldest mystery of misery is
Dying here on your own
I’ve seen all the answers
But all the questions remain unknown
I’m still giving away the only escape that remains”
