More about: Matt Maltese

If you hadn’t guessed it from the title 'Rom Com Gone Wrong', Matt Maltese's new song is about a breakup. So sets the emotional tone of the forthcoming album, Krystal, out 8 November on 7476.

Having spent valuable time cocooned in his bedroom studio, reflecting and feeling all the feels, Maltese has emerged with a collection of songs that are as lyrically astute as they are figurative, and so sentimentally charged that they can cause the stiffest of lips to tremble. 

Following on from ‘Curl Up And Die’, which is positioned as the emotional centrepiece of the album, ‘Rom Com Gone Wrong’ beautifully manages to illustrate that indescribable feeling of finding yourself lost, suspended in a state of shock and intense sadness. It’s an awkward sentiment, much like looking through the window at a picturesque scene, into which you’re not welcome; Maltese croons: “She’s shacked up with someone really good, I feel like I’m just part of a Rom Com gone wrong."

Hear and see it:

Sonically, the production is minimalistic and intimate, much like the vocal takes: Matt wanted to trust his gut instincts and keep a sense of freedom and lack of reserve. As a result, the majority of vocals on the album tracks were recorded in the first take, emphasising the rawness of the material. Krystal is a post-mortem on a relationship, in all its ‘spill your guts’ glory. 

Maltese has teamed up with director Craig Roberts to produce the visuals, after the two struck up an online friendship caused by mutual admiration for each other's art. The video is beautifully awkward, narrating an artist’s struggle with disillusionment: it’s sun soaked and cinematic, and the narrative reinforces the sense of Maltese itching for a recently-lost limb. 

Maltese has also announced a run of headline dates in small venues across the U.K., starting in Cardiff on 16 November at So Young Magazine’s Clwb Ifor Bach all-dayer and including shows in Leeds, Manchester, London & Bristol. Tickets are on-sale now. 

Krystal is out 8 November. 

NOVEMBER
16 - Cardiff, So Young Magazine All Dayer, Clwb Ifor Bach 
25 - Leeds, Hyde Park Book Club 
26 - Manchester, YES MCR Pink Room 
27 - London, The Dome
30 - Bristol, Rough Trade

More about: Matt Maltese