Jess & Matt are on track to becoming the next legendary duo
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13.02.2019

Jess & Matt are on track to becoming the next legendary duo

Words by Lexi Herbert

History is littered with music power couples.

Before Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain there was Kylie Minogue and Michael Hutchence, Ike and Tina Turner and Sonny and Cher. Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz fly the coop today while Beyonce and Jay-Z are stronger than ever.

Then there’s Jess Dunbar and Matt Price, AKA Jess & Matt, the duo made famous for their pop-centric domination of The X Factor in 2015.

Bringing their dulcet tones and tunes to this year’s Chapel Summer Sessions, Jess & Matt are still riding the high from their most recent release, Songs from the Village.

The LP graced 2018 with a collection of covers, primarily dominated by the sounds of ‘60s and ‘70s Americana. Classics such as ‘The Boxer’, ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’, and ‘Both Sides Now’ are stripped bare and given life in a soft, folk-infused atmosphere that lets one song bleed easily into the next.

Though these songs are decade-hardened sure-fire hits that will have audiences around the country singing along beat by beat, Jess & Matt assert that their Summer Sessions performance will have some originals (and debuts) interspersed among covers and rearrangements.

“It will be a mix of songs from our albums and a bunch of brand new originals straight from Nashville,” Dunbar says. “We’ve been there all month writing, and are so excited to tell the audience all the stories behind the songs – and give them their first ever listens.

“One of our next releases we wrote in the car driving from Nashville to New York; we were relying on an iPhone to record our ideas, and then reverse engineered it when we got our hands on an instrument.

“That being said, we really love turning [other artists’] songs on their heads. For example, we’re super excited to strip back ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ by Cyndi Lauper; just the two of us and a piano.”

Originally from NSW, they joined forces in 2014. Fast forward a few years – through a killer audition on The X Factor to a deal with Sony Music, all the way to Songs from the Village peaking at #11 on the ARIA charts – Dunbar and Price are bringing their stripped back pop-folk to Prahran’s Chapel Off Chapel.

For those that have never been privileged enough to attend a gig at the Chapel, it’s a converted church in the heart of Melbourne’s inner southeast. Seating less than 250 patrons, every show is an intimate experience that poses a challenge and immense learning experience for each artist that takes to the stage.

“It definitely places focus on the intricate moments of our music which we love, you can be a lot more dynamic with a space like Chapel Off Chapel. When we first saw the room we were already picking songs to suit the space, it’s just divine.

“We absolutely love playing to intimate audiences, seeing everyone’s faces is a beautiful thing. We really wanted to do a stripped back first set just the two of us on guitar and piano, and then we’re excited to add our buddies on violin, electric guitar and bass for the second set.”

As for the year ahead, the anticipation is going to be hard to bear for fans who’ve been waiting for word on a tour and word on their next album.

“We’ll have new original music out very soon. We’ve been putting our heart and soul into these new songs so it’s always a scary thing to put them out in the world, but we really cannot wait. There will definitely be a tour this year, stay tuned.”

Jess & Matt play their Chapel Summer Sessions show at Chapel Off Chapel on Friday February 22. Tickets and more information available via the venue website.