Ghettoblaster Magazine wrote, 'His soaring harmonies and impeccable chord changes on these fresh tunes will likely satisfy fans of both Big Star and Gram Parsons.' Metro Times premiered a music video for 'Congratulations Honey'-featuring Milia playing pedal steel guitar in a bowling alley while his mother bowled, and other Metro Detroit landmarks, such as the Silverdome just prior to demolition. I think the title occurred to me originally because I was fantasizing about communicating with my 5th-grade self in the computer lab after-school in latchkey waiting for my mom to pick me up-like if I could talk to myself through the early modem, my adult self talking to my 5th-grade self, the things I would say and how I would translate my experience and vice versa.īrooklynVegan called the album 'a gorgeous dose of indie folk,' as it features lush layers of vocal harmony accompanied by mellotron, trumpet, cello, mandolin, Hammond organ, and pedal steel guitar. There’s kind of a classroom motif that goes through the album, hence the title. Chronicling how those places change over time, and how age kind of confuses and how all these eras of experience blur together-kind of like how the municipalities and townships of Metro Detroit blur together. I like to write about spaces that I’ve inhabited for a long time, like Metro Detroit, which has been the building of my life for my entire lifespan. Hugo was the Catholic school I attended for 9 years-as Frontier Ruckus is a building I’ve been in for 10 years. WDET commented that 'Milia’s lyrics come from an immersive vantage and sea-like memory, an all at once haunting yet comforting nostalgia.' Speaking on-air with them, Milia elaborated: The title references the Catholic grade school Milia attended in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Thematically, the album deals with concepts of aging and memory-as does much of Milia's songwriting. In an interview with Metro Times, Milia described the set of highly melodic power pop songs that constitute the album as a result of shirking music industry expectations and remaining prolific as a writer for purer reasons, saying, 'It's the writing part that I still wake up every day and want to do.' Lyrical content

Recorded on a Tascam 388 reel-to-reel tape recorder, the entire album was performed by Milia and engineer Ben Collins.

Hugo is the debut solo studio album by Matthew Milia.

Debut video recorder free