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Matthew West
The Writer's Room: An Acoustic EP
Artist Info: Discography
Album length: 6 tracks
Street Date: April 7, 2009
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Since his fourth album, Something to Say, Matthew West’s popularity has certainly increased.
Whether it’s his experience writing the single “Something to Say” while he was unable to speak, or singing the most played song
on the radio in 2008, recently West has been able to endear himself to more fans. In order to give fans something to chew on in
between full-length projects, Matthew West seems to have jumped on the EP bandwagon, and now gives us
The Writer's Room: An Acoustic EP.
The title is a little deceptive, however, as all the real writing was done a year ago at the minimum, and all of the tracks
were previously available in the acoustic version on Something to Say Special Edition. But beginning the EP is
“Something To Say,” which is still very upbeat, although the lack of music in the bridge leaves West singing nineteen
‘na nas’ practically by himself. The piano which drove “You Are Everything” is replaced by the guitar in the
acoustic tune, but lacks the emotion that the original had. “Only Grace,” off of West’s album, History, doesn't
undergo much change, and the acoustic pop sound of “More” leaves me thinking it should have been either more up tempo or
more of an inspiring ballad. A bonus song from Something to Say, “My Favorite Part” is an uncomplicated lullaby that
does illustrate God’s existence through his creation (‘God loves us/ God is real and you're the proof/ 'Cause only God could make
an angel like you’). “The Day Before You” was an odd choice for the EP as the guitar-driven contemporary pop tune was
also originally released on History and doesn't represent any great chart conquest.
One other deceptive aspect of The Writers Room: An acoustic EP is that while Matthew West is skilled at writing
engaging songs, the song selection tends to lean towards the more generic radio-friendly lyrics (lines ‘There's only grace/
There's only love/ There's only mercy and believing’ and ‘I love you more than the sun/ And the stars that I taught how to
shine’ make up the core foundations of “Only Grace and “More” respectively). It’s extremely likely that only diehard
fans of Matthew West picked up Something to Say Special Edition, but it will take fans that die harder than diehard
fans to pick up The Writers Room: An acoustic EP.
- Review date: 4/27/09, written by Nathaniel D. Schexnayder of Jesusfreakhideout.com
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 Record Label: Sparrow Records
Album length: 6 tracks
Street Date: April 7, 2009
Buy It: Amazon.com
- Something To Say (4:28)
- You Are Everything (3:47)
- Only Grace (3:21)
- More (3:28)
- My Favorite Part (3:25)
- The Day Before You (3:32)
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