Matt Maltese has today shared the new track “Florence”, the final single off his forthcoming album Driving Just To Drive, available April 28 via Nettwerk. The artist’s full-length is their first major body of work from Matt Maltese since his acclaimed third album, Good Morning It’s Now Tomorrow arrived in 2021. Maltese will be heading to the US this summer to perform at Shaky Knees festival in Atlanta Governor’s Ball in New York City, and Lollapalooza in Chicago. Previous singles “Museum,” “Mother,” and title track “Driving Just To Drive.”

Speaking about “Florence”, Matt says: “This is a pretty old song that Josh [Scarbrow] convinced me to dig up from the grave and put on the album. I quite liked the idea of putting a song on the record that wasn’t really written at the same time as everything else. I’ve made a lot more peace with my greener, sincerer older songs that I wrote before I started making my first album, and songs like “Florence” that have a multi-year gap between writing and recording often make for more interesting versions than the ones you write and record in the moment.”

He continues: “I wrote it after seeing a show (not Florence and the Machine) and it was right at the precipice of anger and acceptance with loss, and with life changing a lot. It kind of came at a moment in my life before I became a lot more set on bringing humour and self-deprecation into music, and around my first album being put together, I had come to find it far too sincere and ‘sweet’. Now I often come back to these older teenage songs years later and think their earnestness was actually something to be proud of, rather than cringe or make fun of, and I’m often trying to get closer to that, and still be funny sometimes (hopefully).”

For the album Maltese worked with a producer for the first time in a while – a first-time producer at that, in Josh Scarbrow. It was only after thriving in a songwriting space, collaborating with Joy Crookes, Celeste, Etta Marcus and more, that Maltese better realised how he wanted to write for himself. “I’m bad at letting go to make someone else help me, but I’ve got better,” Maltese says. “Sharing those moments in real life with another person is just really nice. Josh hadn’t made an album before which I loved, and also working with someone my age ended up being really important.”

Fans of Matt Maltese include Doja Cat, Frank Ocean has also featured Matt’s single “Rom-Com Gone Wrong” on his Blonded Radio. Matt is credited as a songwriter on Jamie T’s 2022 record All In Good Time, with Jamie naming him one of the UK’s best young songwriters in multiple press interviews around the album’s release. Matt has also recently co-written music with Joy Crookes and Celeste for their new records.

Matt Maltese
Driving Just To Drive
Netttwerk Records

1. Mother
2. Irony Would Have It
3. Florence
4. Mortician
5. Museum
6. Widows
7. Coward
8. Driving Just to Drive
9. Hello Black Dog
10. Suspend Your Disbelief
11. But Leaving Is

Matt Maltese 2023 Live Dates

May 5 | Shaky Knees Festival, Atlanta, GA
May 26 | Lido Connect, Bangkok, Thailand
May 31 | Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane, Australia
Jun 2 | Northcote Social, Melbourne, Australia
Jun 3 | The Landsdowne Hotel, Sydney, Australia
Jun 9 | Governors Ball Festival. New York City, NY
Aug 3 | Lollapalooza Festival, Chicago, IL

Pre-order Driving Just To Drive by Matt Maltese HERE