Today, Virginia’s own Matt Maeson steps out with his first release of 2018, the lead single off his forthcoming EP, The Hearse, which will be released on Neon Gold / Atlantic Records on April 27, 2018. The song, entitled “Hallucinogenics,” and its accompanying video, which can be seen HERE, is a pitch black meditation on one’s own limits. Maeson told Billboard the song is about a dark time for him post tour. “I’d worked very hard to get my life back on track after years of bad decisions at that point…I was so drained and after everyone went home I stayed in Seattle to unwind,” Maeson says. “One of the nights I just kind of broke and made a lot of decisions that I regret.
Billboard observes, “Maeson’s raw voice captures the inner anguish he feels upon facing those decisions, washing away the thin veneer of the lightly strummed verse as the song pushes forward to a poignant chorus. The intense and honest confessional is tinged with a sense of optimism that could only exist with Maeson’s lucid reflection on the experience.”
LISTEN TO “HALLUCINOGENICS” HERE.
WATCH “HALLUCINOGENICS” HERE.
“Hallucinogenics” is a perfect indicator of all that makes Matt Maeson so damn striking on The Hearse, as well as his previous EP, Who Killed Matt Maeson. With songs that sit somewhere between Jeff Buckley’s hypnotic spellweaving and King Krule’s off-kilter sonics, Maeson takes familiar sounds in incredible new directions, redefining the idea of what the rambling guitar troubadour can be.
But how Maeson got to The Hearse is as fascinating as his songs: born into a minister family, he spent his youth in a family band, playing songs about salvation for inmates and at biker rallies across the country. He himself fell into drugs, and then into jail, eventually getting out and working construction for 12 hours a day while doing community service on his days off. Amidst it all, he continued writing songs, and soon began traveling the country with a notebook and a guitar, going back to play in the prisons where he started along with traditional music venues.
And now, upon the release of The Hearse, Maeson follows 2017 runs with Jaymes Young and Vallis Alps with his biggest tour to date opening for Bishop Briggs, as well as his major festival debuts at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Forecastle this summer. He will also be playing select headlining shows in celebration of The Hearse EP’s release this spring. Tour dates are:
4/27/18 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom *
4/28/18 Seattle, WA @ The Showbox *
4/29/18 Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom *
5/1/18 Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades *
5/3/18 Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory *
5/4/18 Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda *
5/5/18 San Diego, CA @ The Observatory *
5/8/18 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre 8
5/10/18 Kansas City, MO @ The Truman *
5/11/18 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
5/12/18 Chicago, IL @ Virgin Hotel
5/15/18 Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
5/26/18 Napa, CA @ Bottlerock Festival
6/6/18 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
6/9/18 Murfreesboro, TN @ Bonnaroo
7/14/18 Little Rock, AK @ Sloss Festival
7/15/18 Louisville, KY @ Forecastle Festival
8/3/18 Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
* – opening for Bishop Briggs
Tracklisting:
- Put It On Me
- Hallucinogenics
- The Hearse
- Cliffy
- Unconditional
- Mr. Rattlebone