Matt Maltese’s prolific songwriting has been winning admiring glances since his 'In A New Bed' EP - recorded with long-term collaborator Alex Burey - appeared in 2016. Since then the South London crooner has been consistently sound-tracking love and loss and the mundane in-between...
His debut album ‘Bad Contestant’ (2018), recorded with Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado, was the birth of a deeply charismatic singer-songwriter - an introduction to an earnest romantic who harboured a self-effacing inner-voice and loved throwing in sardonic one-liners wherever he could.
In contrast, ‘Krystal’ (2019) sees a more intimate, open songwriter coming forth on a self-produced album that’s sincere, funny and sad at its heart. The natural charm and wit that we were introduced to on ‘Bad Contestant’ come out to play in different ways, but still form an immovable part of his personality. Recorded and produced over four months in his bedroom, Krystal has already received admiration from the likes of The Guardian and Frank Ocean (who featured Rom-Com Gone Wrong on Blonded), and the album reinforces Maltese’s ability to make us cry, laugh, cry and laugh again.