After first picking up the guitar at 15 years of age Matt Henry finally found the courage to start performing live at 35 and hasn’t looked back since. Five years later Henry has toured with the likes of Kasey Chambers, released a successful EP and is now setting the scene to drop Love Without Co-Dependency, an album that’s been 20 years in the making.
“The Best That They Could Do” is the first release from the forthcoming album and was written whilst reflecting on a relationship that had initially ended with a question mark. “This song for me was about erasing that question mark and replacing it with a full stop” said Henry. It is, in essence a country song but expresses strong blues influences and showcases the amazing backing vocals of Jen Mize.
The track is a great example of Henry’s collaboration with celebrated producer/songwriter Shane Nicholson (Catherine Britt, Alex Lloyd) as Henry explains “This song was the last one I sent to Shane. I had just written it and only really sent it because he said to send as much as possible. I thought it was the least finished and I had no real intention of recording it. When I arrived at the studio for pre-production sessions he said it was one of his favourites. The sessions for that song were among the easiest. Because it was new I had no real pre-conceived ideas as to how I wanted it to sound. So essentially Shane just spun his wheels and was left unencumbered”
The video was shot over one weekend by friend and film-maker Kate Holmes. The stunning scenery complements the song beautifully and leaves you feeling mesmerised, wanting more.