Matt Singer
New York City, New York, United States
Music
Press
Singer's infusions of storytelling over fluid melodies define him as a unique songwriter whose songs range from silly to profound but always maintain a level of sheer honesty. His unassuming presence both onstage and off lend him the element of surprise for new audiences as he quickly catches people off guard with his witty lyrics and full voice.
- The Examiner
As I listened to Singer, the word playful kept showing up in my notes. I heard it right away in his voice. Singers vocal style is old-fashioned jazz troubadour charm with a modern wicked streak. Wide-eyed, innocently wicked.
Theres also playfulness in the million details that show up in his songs.
Consider tracks like Chicago (one of my favorites), a comic, yet geekily-touching character sketch of a kid who aint scared of nothing and is all grown up and has a spirit horse and likes to eat potato chips and drink beer and has seen way too many Rocky movies and is going to Chicago. And then... and then... and then.... Believe me, Ive only pulled a few details for this review. The rapid, jaunty musical delivery of this song proves Singers appreciation for the slightly wacko.
Scary is another great example, as Singer tells a story of his infatuation with a woman who doesnt, technically, exist. But the song involves Dawsons Creek and self-chosen monikers and smurf toys and even a song within a song and lots of throwing up. Again, Im just giving a few examples. Listening to songs like these, I actually enjoy feeling my head spin.
- Indie-Music.Com
Matt Singers lyrics are the cat's pajamas. *meow* don't let his wholesome, boy-next-door facade fool you. Delivered like a rapping storyteller, his sardonic, side-splitting, politically-infused lyrics - thinly veiled in catchy melodic, folksy hooks - make you ask, "did he really just say that?," usually followed by an uncontrollable, belly-aching laugh. Plus, he can whistle like a piping hot tea kettle. - My Musical Crush
Matt Singer wrote 2 of my favorite songs of the year without releasing an album of his own. The first, Stacy J, simply has to be heard. Its full of Singers precise observational humor and earnests insights, the kind that populate his 2006 album All Us Heathens. Singer has written two fully developed characters in just a few descriptive verses, capturing both the out-of-reach desires of the its namesake, as well as, almost accidentally, the sad lack of direction of the narrator. I dare anyone to listen and not laugh out loud at least once, and then feel sort of touched by the story when its over. And then hit repeat. Stacy J was released as part of Family Records/Liberated Matters Cross Pollination: The Mixtape compilation (available for free download). On a CD that featured really good songs from My Brightest Diamond, The Undisputed Heavyweights, and Kevin Devine, Singer stole the show.
VHS is the other one of my favorites, and like Stacy J, was a part of almost every play list I made myself this year. Singers lyrics are just as sharp here, using the dead technology of VHS tapes as a symbol for a faded love and an aversion to progress in any way. The song graced Antifolks brilliantly titled Anticomp Folkilation. - Pop Headwound
Last week, I found myself hanging out at Cross Pollination (my favorite weekly show in the city, by far), watching New York's own Matt Singer perform. I had met Matt a couple weeks prior, or maybe months (who knows these days) and he had given me a copy of his debut All Us Heathens. It found its way on to my iTunes soon after, and every time a song came on I realized how much I liked him, but for some reason or another, never got around to posting that thought.
So here we are. After he performed the comical and clever "Outrageous" at Pianos that Tuesday night, I promised myself I would get it up on the blog as soon as possible. Yes, I'm a little slow these days, but promises are always kept.
"Outrageous" was met to a roaring applause with just the opening guitar hook, and I knew I was in for something special. Performed live, you appreciate the personable execution of a very catchy and crafty tune. The lyrics alone are performed as if it is a therapy session of sorts, with Matt expressing his thoughts on everything from being the fat kid, to snorting lines with unrequited loves, to having a hairy back. I kid you not. Everyone will find their favorite part, but the jury is still out on me -- I can't pick just one moment. It's all so good. - Underrated
Discography
The Drought (EP) 2008
All Us Heathens (LP) 2006
Songs can be heard streaming at:
www.myspace.com/mattsingermusic AND www.thefamilyrecords.com
Photos
Bio
First let me say that I represent Brooklyn but I was raised out of Jersey.
Now then, I wrote my first song when I was four years old, sitting on the floor of my father�s office, in a Manhattan law firm, where he was not happy. The song was called Beep-Beep-Bop-Bop-Bop-Beep � that was the hook anyway. Recording it on my dad�s Dictaphone, the message I was trying to get across was that brushing your teeth is fun, and important. Now my father is a psychologist and he is happy.
I wrote my second song 16 years later, not because I had a good idea but because I was sad and lonely. I don�t remember the lyrics or the melody, and I could not tell you the song title, but it might have been called Sad and Lonely. Boring, yes, and certainly a less important work than �Beep,� but nevertheless crucial to my development, because the second song led to a third, and the third to a fourth, and when I had a full set of original music I summoned the courage to play at an open mic, where Kimya said, �Dude, I feel like I wrote that song,� and the rest is history.
Now the very fact that I am writing a bio(graphy) implies a certain level of self-importance (true) and a certain degree of achievement (sorta) and/or can be boiled down to the fact that every reasonably gifted musician is expected to write one (I am a total conformist). Anyhow, rather than write about all the great venues I have played, all the obscenely talented artists with whom I have shared a stage, and all the other details of my musical life that illustrate how great I am, all awkwardly stated in 3rd person (see all other Matt Singer bios, 2001-2008), I think I�ll just say goodbye, for now. Besides, if you want to see all that other stuff, it�s not so hard to find.
Enjoy!
Love,
Matt
Links
