Once again Blue Matter has benefitted from an album which, as has happened a few times, more or less just landed in our lap. The Desperate Ones ‘1906’ record was released in 2012 on the ‘Oh Roy!’ label as a download only. It’s amazing that, considering it’s a work of such quality, it should have taken so many years before finally making an appearance on LP and CD. Those of you who heard Eliza Skelton’s incredible ‘The Lookerer’ album, which came out on Blue Matter in 2023, will hopefully be delighted to learn that ‘1906’ is an album created by Eliza and guitarist extraordinaire Paul Simmons. This fantastic early work shows quite clearly in which direction Eliza & Paul were moving. Accompanied by an excellent band, the album takes you on a cinematic journey encompassing elements of folk, rock, electronica, psych and maybe even a touch of goth. Such great playing and great songs deserve a much wider audience. With mature lyrics and melodic structures featuring Eliza’s vocal mastery, ‘1906’ is an incredibly strong record that we at Blue Matter are proud to be releasing, so our gratitude must go to Eliza & Paul for granting us access to this splendid album and allowing us to put it out for all to hear.