MATT ANDERSEN ANNOUNCES 11TH STUDIO ALBUM,
THE HAMMER & THE ROSE, OUT APRIL 25
TITLE TRACK, A BALANCING ACT OF HEART AND MIND, AVAILABLE NOW
LISTEN: https://orcd.co/7yz3o86
PRE-SAVE ALBUM: https://orcd.co/a3monwo
FEBRUARY 5, 2025 – Canada’s revered singer-songwriter Matt Andersen has announced the release of his 11th solo studio album, The Hammer & The Rose, out April 25 via Sonic Records. On this heartfelt new album, the New Brunswick-born musician opts for tender, moving folk and soul arrangements, trading in the hard steel edges of his heavy blues riffs for delicate compositions and honey-dripping sweetness.
The gently-swinging title track – available now (LISTEN HERE https://orcd.co/7yz3o86) with an accompanying video (WATCH HERE: https://youtu.be/bEonAtPpL1s ) – provides an elegant metaphor for the differences and push-and-pull relationship between the head and the heart: the head wants to blaze a trail, prioritise practicality, and motor through things, while the heart wants to slow down, feel things, feel good.
After seeing one of the shows Andersen played on tour supporting his grand, ecstatic JUNO-nominated 2023 album The Big Bottle of Joy, producer and percussionist Joshua Van Tassel took him aside to express how much he loved the quieter moments of the set. Inspired by those times when the wildness settled down and he could hear, even clearer, the timbre and texture of Andersen’s voice, Van Tassel suggested cutting a record that maintained that low-key spirit. Andersen got to writing with that in mind, and it was the same chill vibe the team fostered for the sessions that would eventually go down in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, where Christine Bougie (lap steel), Aaron Comeau (keys), Kyle Cunjak (acoustic bass), and Afie Jurvanen (acoustic guitar) gathered with Andersen to lay the tracks down live off-the-floor with Van Tassel behind both the boards and the drums.
When Matt Andersen steps on stage, he brings a lifetime of music to every note he plays. Andersen’s stage presence is informed by decades of cutting his teeth in dusty clubs, dim-lit bars, and grand theatres all over the world, delivering moving performances that run the gamut from intimate to wall-shaking. In the studio, he’s always brought the same attention to detail and commitment to craft as he has to his live show, and the result – a multi-faceted and poignant body of work – has led him to amass over 33 million streams on Spotify and 30 million views on YouTube. In addition to headlining major festivals, clubs and theatres throughout North America, Europe, and Australia, he has shared the stage and toured with Marcus King, Beth Hart, Marty Stuart, Greg Allman, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Randy Bachman, Serena Ryder, Tab Benoit, and more.
Andersen has been very well-received by UK media. RNR Magazine summed up his wide-ranging soundscape saying: “Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist Matt Andersen is often described as a bluesman, though in truth his remit has been far beyond that for many years.” His albums have garnered great reviews, including Uncut Magazine on House to House: “The wilful acoustic album is always a statement of confidence in two things: the songs, and the voice. In Andersen’s case, neither is misplaced.” And Americana-UK on The Big Bottle of Joy: “This is an album that grabs you by the throat from the opening bars of the first track to the last and it refuses to let you go.” Of his astounding live shows, Building Our Own Nashville declared: “The power of Andersen is incredible.”
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