If you were an indie-rock fan coming up in Nashville in the 2000s, your world revolved around The Features. And when word started to spread about frontman Matt Pelham’s return to music — his first offering since The Features quietly disbanded in 2016 — excitement shot through the city’s local-rock group chats like electricity. To be clear, Matt and the Watt Gives is not a Features record — it’s something different, both new and familiar. Though you can hear a glimmer of that old Features DNA in the groove of “Castles” and “The Shade,” Pelham leans hard into a blues-rock maturity that puts his greatest asset — his ragged, emotional vocals — in the spotlight. Songs like “Natchez” and “Cutting Ties” show Pelham in a new, exciting light, and we couldn’t be happier that he’s sharing that light with Nashville again.
