Photo: Matt Andersen by Scott Doubt
Celebrated Canadian musician Matt Andersen sets the stage for his upcoming release House to House out March 4, 2022 with the formidable album opener “Other Side of Goodbye.”
The strong, compelling track showcases Andersen’s complex, deep vocal range while he honestly laments the end of a relationship. About the song, Andersen notes, “Breaking up is sometimes the easiest part, the hardest part is moving on.”
Andersen’s voice, soulful with beautiful timber and tone, touches the spirit in a way few vocalists can. His new song washes over you with a certain peace, tenderness and intimacy.
Just as comfortable delivering a tender ballad as he is flying high on gospel or belting the blues, on House to House this multi-award-winning vocalist, songwriter, guitarist Matt Andersen delivers a body of work that is expansive, rich and varied. Andersen’s masterful voice is the highlight of House to House as he moves through thunderous notes, intimate moments and everything in between. The boldness of “Other Side of Goodbye” leans into the softer love song “Let Me Hold You.” The upbeat “Time for the Wicked to Rest” offers gospel-infused folk, while the sparse ballad “See This Through” is a quiet, thoughtful take on a struggling relationship. And a poignant, soulful cover of the Curtis Mayfield classic “People Get Ready” brings the album to a moving close.
Watch “The Other Side of Goodbye”
Stream/Download ‘The Other Side Of Goodbye” here
House to House is Andersen’s first solo studio record, continuing a rich career as one of the more captivating songwriters and engaging performers in modern roots music. He has earned every fan through decades of touring across the globe, from small dim lit clubs to majestic theaters and major festivals. He has amassed over 18 million streams on Spotify and 18 million views on YouTube. House to House is Andersen’s 9th studio album and follows Halfway Home By Morning from 2019. Andersen nabbed the 2013 and 2016 European Blues Award for Best Solo/Acoustic Act, three Maple Blues Awards in 2012, and was the first ever Canadian to take home top honours in the solo/duo category at the 2010 International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Since the release of his ninth studio album Weightless in early 2014, Andersen has received a JUNO Award nomination for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year, a CIMA Road Gold award, and eight Maple Blues Awards.
On the album, the prolific singer/songwriter embraces a stripped-down sound while sacrificing none of the power he has become known for in his electric live performances. About the songs on House to House, Andersen shares that, “Songs that are as much about the space as they are about what happens between the spaces. I’ve learned those moments need to be there in a show. Big and strong isn’t big and strong if you don’t have a quiet moment to compare it to. This album is pretty much all about those types of songs.” This is the softer side of Matt Andersen.
On House to House Andersen moves in a different direction from the dynamic, thumping blues that has earned him numerous accolades and awards. Here he effortlessly delves into gospel-infused folk, introspective singer/songwriter numbers and thoughtful ballads, showing a more intimate side of the performer and writer. That sparseness shows in the album’s recording process, which occurred during the pandemic in Andersen’s home studio in rural Nova Scotia, live off-the-floor, with no overdubs. The title track was written with Andersen and musicians Chris Robison and Scott Prudence who built his home studio. The voices you hear mingling with Andersen’s are Terra Spencer, Ryan Hupman, and the Smiths, were really there in the room with him. And the collection of co-writers reads like a laundry list of the best in the business: Terra Lightfoot, Dave Gunning, Gordie Sampson, Breagh Isabel, Tom Wilson, Clayton Bellamy, Colin Linden, and the aforementioned Spencer, Hupman, Robison, and Prudence.
In addition to headlining major festivals, clubs and theaters throughout North America, Europe and Australia, Matt Andersen has shared the stage and toured with Marcus King, Beth Hart, Marty Stuart, Greg Allman, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Randy Bachman, Jonny Lang, Serena Ryder, and more.
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