X&Y Bar is a strange place to be hosting a gig like tonight’s. Like watching foul-mouthed comedy with conservative in-laws or porn with your pop, from the outset it’s clear Scott Matthew ’s talents, often critically acclaimed, would tonight be largely lost.

A small but attentive crowd stand at roughly the same height as Matthew seated on his stool and struggle to ignore the echoey bar atmosphere. Matthew is Brooklyn based but Brisbane born and it’s quickly obvious that this is little more than a family gathering.

Awkwardly yet effectively strumming a raw-timber, electric ukulele I Love You is received the way a son’s art always is from a proud parent. – œI don’t really play guitar very much anymore so… I’m kind of crap at it’ is all the introduction the second song gets. Before pushing into the gorgeous but wasted White Horse on the uke, he warns the room in vain that the next song is a quiet one, and after an expectant pause jokes that that is usually a cue to shut the fuck up. Again, the crowd of aunts and uncles find it hilarious.

A Scott Matthew recording is minimalist to say the least. With rarely more than piano, cello or violin as an accompaniment to his heart wrenching vocals, time and space are as important as any instrument to his work.

Whether it’s the venue or a professional insouciance brought on by being – œback home’, Matthew’s performance fails to deliver anywhere near the passion and intensity expected. His usually stunning, almost androgynous vocals are diluted by the need to be louder and although there are still moving moments, the frequent mood-breaking calamity of the working bar area makes them all too fleeting.

The warm and fuzzy’s return however, when Matthew’s father joins him on stage and plays guitar beaming while his son sings a lovely version of The Beatles’ In My Life. The two embrace and kiss upon completion and Matthew looks clearly overcome with emotion but is convinced by fair demand to play one more.

The set is punctuated with the track In The End, featured on the soundtrack to Shortbus – a dramatic comedy about sexuality and lifestyle diversity. It’s an incredible tune and one of the few that actually go close to creating the kind of gravity to which Matthew is accustomed. Given the right surroundings and deserved attention, Scott Matthew could very well be a highlight of your gig calendar.