Eric Matthews fancies himself something of a homebody.

So, don't look for the orchestral popster to hit the road in support of his sophomore solo album The Lateness of the Hour (Sub Pop), which leads off with "Ideas That Died That Day" (RealAudio excerpt).

Although folks with similar lush sensibilities (Zumpano, Jeremy Enigk) have found ways to take their studio-based sound on tour, Matthews said he's avoiding the circuit at least partially because he doesn't want to abandon the creature comforts of home.

"I will never tour," the 28-year-old Matthews said by phone from his nest in Gresham, Ore. "I will never live in a van or a bus, or commit myself to being away from home for very long."

What the multi-instrumentalist does plan to do is to arrange a few performances in select cities, at radio stations and, depending on the success of Lateness of the Hour, TV shows. He said he's willing to make such concessions "because I want to help the record company do a good job for me."

A lack of touring certainly did no harm to Matthew's 1995 debut album, It's Heavy In Here. That album's plush arrangements owed much to influences such as Beach Boys' songwriter Brian Wilson, and garnered Matthews kudos from the media. Lateness of the Hour features more baroque pop, including accompaniment by the 451 Philharmonic, a full ensemble of strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion that Matthews himself founded.

Of course, Matthews is also something of a control freak too, which makes bringing his music on the road a bit difficult. "The pop music, the rock music that I like tends to be more on the studied side, the more prepared side," he said.

Matthews compared his distaste for touring to that felt by Wilson or the Beatles who eventually found their music too complex to stage live. "It seems to me natural," he said. "Why would anyone expect me to go do a show? I work hard to really make the record something, to make the music something. To do anything less than that on stage is hurtful."

But is there a call for the romantic pop of Matthews and his orchestral brethren in today's world of hip-hop and electronica? Matthews thinks so. "Prodigy and Chemical Brothers will enjoy a good deal of success, I'm sure," said Matthews. "In America, though, of the total music buyers, they're going to get shattered by the people who buy Michael Bolton. Michael Bolton will outdo the Prodigy, and so will John Tesh. Those are not examples of quality pop music, or quality orchestral music of any kind. But I think there's an audience out there of people who listen to that music who might find a lot of things to like in my music."