Matt Smith's Landmark 20th album "...this is not OK..."

Matt Smith’s “...this is not OK...” is an album that confronts an unsettled world without surrendering to despair. Across nine original songs, Smith examines difficult realities through a musical language rooted in blues, soul, rock, folk and Americana. Rather than attempting to provide easy answers, the record seems more interested in asking what it means to remain compassionate and connected when the world around us feels increasingly fractured.

That sense of perspective is one of the album’s greatest strengths. Smith has spent more than four decades working across performance, songwriting, production and education, and there is a noticeable sense of experience behind the material. These songs do not feel like observations made from a distance. They carry the weight of someone who has spent a lifetime watching people, relationships and communities change, while continuing to believe that music can provide a way through difficult circumstances.

The album’s title immediately establishes its emotional territory, but the music avoids becoming relentlessly bleak. Instead, there is a productive tension between acknowledging what is wrong and searching for reasons to keep going. That balance gives the record considerably more depth than a straightforward collection of protest or social-commentary songs. Smith recognises frustration, uncertainty and division, but he also leaves space for empathy, resilience and the possibility of understanding one another.

Musically, the album benefits from Smith’s broad background as a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. The roots and Americana influences give the songs an earthy foundation, while blues and soul bring warmth and emotional immediacy. Rock adds further weight, allowing the arrangements to move between intimacy and greater intensity. Rather than using genre as a fixed identity, Smith appears to treat it as a palette from which he can select whatever best serves each song.

The collaborative nature of the recording is another important element. Bringing musicians and vocalists from Austin and New York into the project gives the album a sense of community that complements its themes. The performances feel connected to the wider musical traditions from which Smith has drawn throughout his career, while the production allows the individual contributions to contribute to a cohesive whole.

There is also something compelling about the album arriving this far into Smith’s musical journey. “...this is not OK...” is his 20th studio album, and that milestone gives the project added significance. It is not the work of an artist trying to establish a voice, but of someone who has already spent decades refining one. His history of working with major performers, teaching musicians and producing records informs the confidence of the material without overwhelming the songs themselves.

Perhaps the album’s most meaningful quality is its refusal to treat disagreement as the end of the conversation. Smith’s response to difficult times is neither avoidance nor anger for its own sake. Instead, he uses songwriting as a form of reflection, asking listeners to consider the human stories behind the larger issues.

Ultimately, “...this is not OK...” is a mature and purposeful album. It acknowledges that there are genuine reasons for concern, but refuses to conclude that division is inevitable. Smith’s answer is music: honest enough to recognise the problems, compassionate enough to look beyond them, and hopeful enough to believe that people can still find common ground. It is a record shaped by experience, but importantly, not defined by cynicism.