Ian Moss’s debut solo album came at a crossroads in his career. With his band Cold Chisel having split in 1983, and with Chisel lead singer Jimmy Barnes well and truly established as a successful solo artist, come 1989 the guitarist decided he, too, was ready to dip his toes into solo territory. Although the shadow of Chisel looms large over Matchbook—keyboardist Don Walker writes or co-writes nine songs, with drummer Steve Prestwich contributing to “I’ve Got You”—musically the album finds Moss incorporating more of a classic R&B and white soul edge into his sound, particularly on the likes of “Mr. Rain”. Elsewhere Moss realises his goal of melding blues and pop, particularly on “Telephone Booth”, “Such a Beautiful Thing” and debut single “Tucker’s Daughter”, about a farmhand who doesn’t reciprocate the affections of his boss’s daughter. There are biographical references throughout, with “Such a Beautiful Thing” contrasting Moss’s upbringing in Alice Springs with the harsh realities of life in his adopted hometown of Sydney (“Well I’m a Northern Territory man/The Territory lives in me/I fail to understand/The silly bloody things I see”).