Newcastle-based songwriter Mat Hunsley steps confidently into the spotlight with his long-awaited debut album, ‘The Things We Need’.
The record is a quietly ambitious blend of intimate folk storytelling and subtle alternative textures, a collection shaped as much by years of personal experience as by instinctive musicianship. Hunsley’s dual life, as a newly qualified doctor navigating the emotional intensity of the NHS, lends the album a rare depth, balancing introspection with social awareness.
The title track, ‘The Things We Need’, exemplifies Hunsley’s approach. Beginning with delicate acoustic guitar and his breathy, ethereal vocals, the song gradually expands into a layered yet understated arrangement. Subtle synths, swelling piano, and interweaving guitar lines build toward a cinematic crescendo without ever losing the song’s quiet intimacy.
Self-produced in his home studio, the track reflects Hunsley’s knack for space, restraint, and emotional pacing, qualities that permeate the album as a whole.
Elsewhere, tracks like ‘There’s Been A Death’ underscore Hunsley’s capacity to translate lived experience into compelling narrative. Drawing from his time within the NHS, the song offers an unflinching, humanised portrait of overworked hospitals and exhausted staff. Yet the track never feels didactic: it is a testament to his skill in transforming stark reality into evocative art, where frontline perspective and poetic storytelling intersect.
Collaborators such as drummer Matt Hardy (Lanterns on the Lake, Lovely Assistant) and string arranger Joseph Lawrenson (Dancing Years) subtly enhance the record’s palette, adding nuance and atmosphere without overshadowing Hunsley’s central vision. Across the album, minimalism often carries the greatest impact: the most stripped-back moments, guitar and voice alone, resonate with a fragile beauty that recalls the early work of Ben Howard and Bon Iver, while establishing a voice entirely Hunsley’s own.
‘The Things We Need’ positions Mat Hunsley as a thoughtful and authentic new presence in the UK’s contemporary folk and alternative scene. It is a debut defined by vulnerability and conviction, a record where introspection and social consciousness coexist, and where a songwriter’s lived experience becomes a source of both empathy and artistry.
