Matt DeMello
Jennifer's Appendix, Vol. 7: Reimagining 'Abbey Road'

post-war pop / vaudeville / synth-pop / showtunes / classic rock / prog / blues / country / folk

Just before the world closed down in pandemic, self described singer-songcyclist and multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Matt DeMello was playing with his long-time backing band, the Significant Looks, across the northeast performing the Beatles' 'Abbey Road' album end-to-end for its 50th anniversary.

Fortunately, they recorded the set in a professional studio. Unfortunately, they kept telling themselves "We can always do more takes" just as COVID-19 would scatter them across the country.

Together with the Anti-Matter horns and longtime producer Alex Busi, DeMello would spend the next three years tinkering with overdubs, doing his absolute best to give the project the final treatment it deserved with not usurping what was originally laid bare. What remains is a curious document :a band's sudden and unpredictable final bow, performing THE pop music swan song to end all pop music swan songs.

"I have to be honest, this was probably the most emotional project I've ever had to finish," DeMello would say later in a cover story for the Boston-based music blog PopMatters. "'Abbey Road' is bound to the core of my 15-year-old musician dreams. I heard the reprise of 'You Never Give Me Your Money' in 'Carry That Weight; and it was all a done deal. And this is all before mentioning I will treasure this forever - bum notes and all - as some of the most reflexively fun and fulfilling times I've ever had playing music with the musicians who believed in me the most."