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 the infectiously cheery "Call My Name Out".
It was the haunting "Please Don’t Send Me Away" which seemed to catch the attention of the media, who drew comparisons between Jay and British
folk-pop legend Nick Drake. Further press articles grouped him with
Elliott Smith,
[{{cite web]
| title =Matthew proves quite a "draw"
| work =
| publisher =BBC
| date =2001-04-09
| url =http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/entertainment/clubs/2001_04/matthew_jay.shtml
| format =
| doi =
| accessdate =2007-06-30 }}
Jeff Buckley and
David Gray.
[{{cite web]
| last =Goh
| first =Daryl
| authorlink =
| title =Draw
| work =
| publisher =''The Star'' (Malaysia)
| date =2001
| url =http://www.star-ecentral.com/music/reviews/review.asp?file=archives/music/2001/8/Draw&artist=Matthew%20Jay&title=Draw&sec=Music
| format =
| doi =
| accessdate =2007-06-30 }} ''
GQ'' called the album "one of the most impressive debuts of recent times".
[{{cite web]
| last =Brock
| first =Brady
| title =Matthew Jay: Too Soon
| work =
| publisher =In Music We Trust
| date =2005-05
| url =http://www.inmusicwetrust.com/articles/70r43.html
| format =
| doi =
| accessdate =2007-06-30 }}
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.
[{{cite web]
| last =Ladouceur
| first =Liisa
| authorlink =
| title =Matthew Jay's rap sheet
| work =
| publisher =''Eye Weekly''
| date =2001-06-28
| url =http://www.eyeweekly.com/eye/issue/issue_06.28.01/music/mattjay.php
| format =
| doi =
| accessdate =2007-06-30 }}
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 small hours of the 25th of September, in an unexplained fall from an apartment block in
London.
Initially, assumptions were made regarding the manner of the singer's passing, with the only information made available to the public being a statement released by Jay's family which said that he had been alone at the time,
[{{cite web]
| title =Matthew Jay biography
| publisher =BBC Wales
| date =
| url =http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/matthewjay/pages/biography.shtml
| doi =
| accessdate =2007-08-27 }} 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. Furthermore, Jay was not known to have been depressed, and he had spoken cheerfully to his family earlier the same evening.
[{{cite book]
| last =Simmonds
| first =Jeremy
| title =Number One in Heaven: The Heroes Who Died for Rock 'n' Roll
| publisher =Penguin Books
| date =2006
| location =London
| pages =506
| doi =
| id =
| isbn =0141022876 }}
An inquest into his passing returned an open verdict.
Posthumous works
In August 2004, the independent record label Jays Music, with the backing of EMI, released an album of Matthew Jay rarities and early recordings. The collection, ''Matthew Jay: Too Soon'', showcased many of the songs which brought the artist to the attention of EMI in the first place.
On
24 September 2006, "What Would Love Do Now?", one of the songs Jay had been working on shortly before his death, was released exclusively for download.
In June 2007, EMI gave the rights to the videos of all three Matthew Jay singles to Jay's family, and they in turn decided to make the videos available for download, and declared that all profits from the sale of these video downloads should go to the
UNICEF Born Free from HIV campaign, as UNICEF was a charity that their son supported.
A further album of previously unheard material was completed in August 2007, and this, together with a new video are planned for late 2007.