Ahead of the release of ‘Georgia Gothic’ on Friday, Mattiel shares ‘Cultural Criminal’ a brand new track and live performance video.
Talking about the track Mattiel said:
I’m not sure what it will mean for listeners, I hope it’s interpreted in different ways by different people. But Cultural Criminal was written as a reminder to myself to question everything and to avoid the trappings of “thought police,” so to speak. And just to maintain my focus and attention span during a time when we’re all being assaulted by media and advertising at any given moment. I’d just say… I prefer to think for myself and surround myself with people who may see the world differently than I do. Getting out of the echo chamber, you know?
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Georgia Gothic, a magic third in Mattiel’s run of full-length albums, was shaped in the quiet seclusion of a woodland cabin in the north of the Atlanta duo’s mother-state; “Some faraway place that just Jonah and I could go where there would be no distractions, nothing else going on, and we could turn everything off and only focus on writing songs”, reflects Brown. Where 2017’s self-titled debut and its 2019 follow-up Satis Factory were written with what Swilley refers to as a “hands-off” approach — he arranging the music and Brown the lyrics and vocals, the two working largely separately — the making of Georgia Gothic was, for the first time, a truly collaborative undertaking. “This was the first time we made a point to just be together and work out ideas in the same room. That was the initial intention … it was about learning what each other wanted to accomplish on a sonic level, and then just trying different things out” Swilley continues. “Everything happened backwards. Normally, you’d have friends that make a band … with us, we started making music from the jump, and then became homies.”
Cultivated by time spent together on the road touring the first two albums, it is this newfound sense of intimacy between Mattiel’s members that enabled the writing of Georgia Gothic not as two separate musicians, but rather as one creative entity. The album remained within the four walls of Brown and Swilley’s private world for much of its evolution — with recording taking place in a simple studio set up by the pair in the borrowed room of a dialysis centre, Swilley in the producer’s seat — until, nearing completion, it was transferred into the trusted hands of the Grammy-award-winning John Congleton (whose extensive list of credits includes artists as diverse as Angel Olsen, Earl Sweatshirt, Erykah Badu and Sleater Kinney) for mixing.
✫ READ MORE ABOUT GEORGIA GOTHIC HERE ✫
✫ GEORGIA GOTHIC TRACK-LISTING | PRE-ORDER GEORGIA GOTHIC HERE ✫
Mattiel have also announced a run of UK and European shows in May… it’s going to be great to have them back on our shores.
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