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News |  03 Apr 2023 12:05 |  By RnMTeam

Matt Maltese shares euphoric new single "Florence", upcoming asia tour this May

MUMBAI: London singer-songwriter Matt Maltese has shared the new track "Florence", the final taste of the upcoming fourth album 'Driving Just To Drive' - out 28 April via Nettwerk. 'Driving Just To Drive' is the first major body of work from Matt Maltese since his acclaimed third album in 2021, 'Good Morning It’s Now Tomorrow'.

The release follows after the announcement of his first ever Asia tour, which will see the singer perform in 5 different major cities across Asia.

Matt Maltese Asia Tour 2023
21 May | Legacy, Taipei
22 May | Samsung Hall, Manila
24 May | UCC Theatre, Singapore
26 May | Union Hall, Bangkok
28 May | Seoul Jazz Festival, Seoul

Matt has swept up half a billion streams across all platforms, taking the world by storm with his viral hit "As The World Caves In", and currently has over 6.5 million monthly listeners. Matt's audience also continues to grow on social media with over 500,000 followers now on TikTok where global superstars like Doja Cat and BTS’ Kim Taehyung have become firm fans – the former even hosted an Instagram Live singalong of "Curl Up And Die".

Frank Ocean has also featured Matt's single "Rom-Com Gone Wrong" on his Blonded Radio. Matt is credited as a songwriter on Jamie T’s 2022 #1 record All In Good Time, with Jamie naming him one of the UK’s best young songwriters in multiple press interviews around the album’s release. Matt has also recently co-written music with Joy Crookes and Celeste for their new records.

Speaking on "Florence", Matt shares: “This is a pretty old song that Josh [Scarbrow] convinced me to dig up from the grave and put on the album. I quite liked the idea of putting a song on the record that wasn’t really written at the same time as everything else. I’ve made a lot more peace with my greener, sincerer older songs that I wrote before I started making my first album, and songs like ‘Florence’ that have a multi-year gap between writing and recording often make for more interesting versions than the ones you write and record in the moment.”

“I wrote it after seeing a show (not Florence and the Machine) and it was right at the precipice of anger and acceptance with loss, and with life changing a lot. It kind of came at a moment in my life before I became a lot more set on bringing humour and self-deprecation into music, and around my first album being put together, I had come to find it far too sincere and ‘sweet’. Now I often come back to these older teenage songs years later and think their earnestness was actually something to be proud of, rather than cringe or make fun of, and I’m often trying to get closer to that, and still be funny sometimes (hopefully),” he elaborates.

Previous singles "Museum", "Mother" and title track "Driving Just To Drive" have received plaudits from the likes of The Guardian Guide, The Times, Notion, The Line Of Best Fit, Clash, and swept up Spotify New Music Friday playlists across 8 territories in Asia.

Everybody is searching for happiness – and although it might be impossible to find, Matt Maltese is getting closer. For his fourth album, in order to look forward the musician finally let himself look back to the past. Reflecting on a sense of place, the meaning of where you grew up and the secret to being able to just enjoy the moment, 'Driving Just To Drive' finds Matt at his most free.

“When I was younger, I was über earnest – when I was 18 and got my heart broken I lost this ego thing in me, and it brought back earnestness in a way,” Matt says of the governing emotions that guided him to a level of pure nostalgia and romanticism that elevates this album into a more powerful, sincere plane than ever. “I’d pushed that earnestness away as I felt self-conscious, but as time goes on, there's no time anymore for self-deprecation. I think the way I lived my life before 2021 was all thinking. I now try to think less, and be less precious with what I write.”

The album’s lush, almost cinematic sound in part comes from Matt working with a producer for the first time in a while – a first-time producer at that, in Josh Scarbrow. It was only after thriving in a songwriting space, collaborating with Joy Crookes, Celeste, Etta Marcus and more, that he better realised how he wanted to write for himself. “I’m bad at letting go to make someone else help me, but I’ve got better,” Matt says. “Sharing those moments in real life with another person is just really nice. Josh hadn’t made an album before which I loved, and also working with someone my age ended up being really important.”

'Driving Just To Drive' finds Matt at his most open, and settled, embracing new sounds but returning to the most organic version of himself he knows. He’s always wanted to find a way to make people laugh, but finds ways here to charm while somewhat letting his guard down. The result is something bittersweet and deeply, authentically emotional. It's no surprise that he's making waves across Asia in streaming markets worldwide, including Indonesia, India, Malaysia and the Philippines ranking in his top 10.
“His journey from a louche, world-weary cynic to an artist centred on hard-won optimism certainly makes for a rapt listen”
– NME

“These tracks do what Matt does best: they comfort ”
– DIY

“An exceptional work of chamber-tinged indie songwriting […] understands the world better than most could ever hope to”
– CLASH

'Driving Just To Drive' Tracklisting
1. Mother
2. Irony Would Have It
3. Florence
4. Mortician
5. Museum
6. Widows
7. Coward
8. Driving Just to Drive
9. Hello Black Dog
10. Suspend Your Disbelief
11. But Leaving Is

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