Matt Maltese - Driving Just To Drive

Heute gibt es eine Portion Piano-Pop für Freunde von Ben Folds oder Billy Joel. Die beschwingteren Songs aus „Driving Just To Drive“ könnten gut aus dem Autoradio erschallen, wenn man mit seinem Fahrzeug quer durch die USA braust. Jedoch stammen sie nicht von einem US-amerikanischen Künstler, sondern vom 25-jährigen Matt Maltese, der aus dem englischen Reading stammt und seine ersten Songs bereits als Teenager komponierte. 

Ausgerechnet der Titelsong kommt etwas schwerer und düsterer daher und lässt an eine Radiohead-Ballade denken, beim anschließenden „Hello Black Dog“ meint man, von Rufus Wainwright begrüßt zu werden.

Dank TikTok sorgte eine seiner frühen Single namens „As The World Caves In“ in den letzten Jahren für reichlich Aufmerksamkeit. Matt Maltese veröffentlichte jüngst via Nettwerk bereits sein viertes Studioalbum.  

 

‘Florence’ also reflects on youthful exuberance, dressed as a piano bar ballad and cited as a “pretty old song”, originally written as a flourish of inspiration from a Florence and the Machine gig. Stirring, Maltese builds a chorus brick by brick with his signature satin voice, unvarnished and delicious like the bygones he presents. 

‘Museum’ is another track for the sentimentalists, bittersweetness painted by warbling guitars and the poetic detail of prosaic beauty that comes with visiting your hometown. As a working class home counties expat, ‘Museum’ feels like looking in a mirror. (…)

‘Driving Just to Drive’ ends with bittersweet return to the piano stool – ‘But leaving is’. Maltese accepts the reality of letting go, and vows to take love at face value.

The listener may also deduce that this is the best way to receive Maltese’s latest project – as is, rather than wanting more. ‘Driving Just to Drive’ drives safely. Perhaps too safely. We may yearn for Maltese to put his foot down, but it could be argued there is solace in safety. Not everything has to be hell for leather.

(Clash Music)

 

With its unhurried vibe and ebullient, largely optimistic melodies, for Maltese, ‘Driving Just To Drive’ represents a major change – and one that he commands. That sense of release is evident not only in the wide spectrum of styles he adopts here, but in the certainty with which he pushes his homespun pop sound outwards. Guided by a funky piano line, ‘Florence’ conjures warm memories of a transformative teenage gig for Maltese; later, ‘Suspend Your Disbelief’ luxuriates in an ambiance of lo-fi sound effects, banjos and peppy drums. A guest vocal from Biig Piig on ‘Coward’, meanwhile, amplifies a set of luminous harmonies. (…)

Despite its overarching playfulness, ‘Driving Just To Drive’ has a central, standout moment of disquiet. On ‘Widows’, Maltese’s lyrics feel purposefully restrained: “And pull your blinds up / Watch the sky fall / Catch the birds’ funeral song.” Fans of Maltese’s typically lucid approach may find this impressionism frustrating, but it gradually builds an effective picture of fear. Here, his sense of scale is more nuanced and outward-facing than ever before, and in turn, Maltese’s writing will continue to become all the more captivating for it.

(NME)