Matt Cardle
From:
Colchester, Essex
Label:
So What?
Bio
Matt Cardle is the happiest he has ever been - don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. He’s got a platinum selling debut album - ‘Letters’ - under his belt and a sold out arena tour to his name. In the last six months he has spent four weeks living in LA, the same again in Toronto, Canada and the rest on home soil doing what he loves best - writing and recording music.
The enthusiasm for his craft is shining through. He has a passion for the new songs that only comes from a man who is proud of what he is delivering.
“I genuinely have so much faith in it,” he says lifting his famous cap and ruffling his hair. “I know I can talk about every single song with confidence, because it's personal experience. I've actually come into myself completely. There was stuff on ‘Letters’ that was very current, but with this album it's in the moment. From LA to Canada and back home.”
This isn’t a teenager who has found fame overnight. This is a man approaching the big 3-0 and he’s not struggling for rock’n’roll anecdotes about his twenties. He’s more in control of his musical destiny than ever before. With a new deal with independent label So What? Recordings, he’s taking a forensic interest in every step of the process this time around.
“I feel in control and I’m completely confident in the album,” he says. “It’s my songs that I've written, and I’ve produced in the way that I want them produced. If you're on stage and you're singing a song that you don't feel and you haven't written, its just lies.”
“Making ‘Letters’ I was in a relationship, I was falling in love, I was happy, but the album was the complete opposite,” continues Cardle. “With this one, through heartbreak and absolute devastation I've come out with something that is way more positive.”
An experienced live performer with a sold-out 23 date tour behind him, this album has been written with the live performances very much in mind. “It won’t be a plod. This will have shape and a dynamic – I can’t wait to get out and give it a go live.”
His stall is set out from the start with his unmistakable vocal on opener ‘It’s Only Love’.
Co-written with Paul Statham, the man behind Dido’s ‘Hear With Me.’
“The vocal comes straight in and it's big, it's like ‘We're back!’, says Matt. “You've got to come out swinging and that’s what this song is all about.”
Title track ‘The Fire’ follows, another huge track which sounds like ‘Thank You’ by Alanis Morissette meets The Verve’s ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony.’
‘For Every Heartbreak’, written with trusted collaborator Steve Booker (Adele, Duffy),
is another example of Matt’s honest lyrics from the relationships that haven’t survived. He sings ‘I have no fear/I feel sick inside the times I have you near. The pain inside is enough to remind me I don't need you here.’
Matt holds his hands up, “Again it relates to the career situation and the situation with my ex-girlfriend. When I left Sony it was like ‘is this it?’ But hopefully it's just the beginning of something that is much better than what was previously. Not that previous was bad, I’m really proud of ‘Letters’, but you're constantly just striving to do better, be better.”
‘Anyone Else’ he believes is the most pop-heavy track on the album. “It's basically about not being able to make up my mind whether I want to sleep around or not! If you're a dancer you can probably move to it, it's got a good feel to it.”
‘Lately’, a co-write with Starsailor’s James Walsh, could only come from the chemistry of a writing partnership that has excelled through friendship.
“We just thought because of the sound of the track and the feel of it, it would be something positive. It’s the only track with James on the album, but it was one that I just loved.”
With ‘All That Matters’ Matt reveals the first song he has written on piano. He says: “I’m Grade One piano if I’m lucky! I thought about getting my Tele out, but because that song is so emotional, so raw, it needs to be piano. And it was written on piano. I started writing it when I split from my ex and it just fell out of me.”
‘Empire’ came after a wild night in LA with former Spurs striker Robbie Keane. Cardle’s a man who believes he writes best with a hangover -and this could be proof of his theory.
“This was the first song that was upbeat after my girlfriend and I had split. It’s about losing love, losing my faith”, he says. “But after I'd been in LA for a bit, and I realised there was a whole world out there to enjoy again.”
The delicacy and emotion in ‘Water’ is a tearjerker of a track, marking a change of pace on the album. “It's just a straight up song about loss. I've listened to tracks and one sentence has made sense to me, and then the whole song becomes about it. I think if you've lost anyone, mother, brother, father, daughter whatever, as long as there is a mention of it in there, then the song can do that.”
‘Anywhere’, written with Ben Earle, is channeling a bit of the Paul Simon spirit. He jokes: “This will be my chance to get three Namibian primary schools on stage when I play it live!”
The album closes with Cardle’s spine-tingling version of ‘The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face’, a Ewan McColl song made famous by Roberta Flack. It’s the kind of song all artists strive for when they are hunting for the right way to finish an album, and provides a perfect crescendo for ‘The Fire’.
There will be no shortage of people chipping in to offer the last word on Matt. He understands that would be part of the transaction of appearing on THAT show. He is not bitter. Far from it. He appreciates the opportunity it has given him. The chance, ultimately, to give his fans ‘The Fire’. And no-one can extinguish that.
The enthusiasm for his craft is shining through. He has a passion for the new songs that only comes from a man who is proud of what he is delivering.
“I genuinely have so much faith in it,” he says lifting his famous cap and ruffling his hair. “I know I can talk about every single song with confidence, because it's personal experience. I've actually come into myself completely. There was stuff on ‘Letters’ that was very current, but with this album it's in the moment. From LA to Canada and back home.”
This isn’t a teenager who has found fame overnight. This is a man approaching the big 3-0 and he’s not struggling for rock’n’roll anecdotes about his twenties. He’s more in control of his musical destiny than ever before. With a new deal with independent label So What? Recordings, he’s taking a forensic interest in every step of the process this time around.
“I feel in control and I’m completely confident in the album,” he says. “It’s my songs that I've written, and I’ve produced in the way that I want them produced. If you're on stage and you're singing a song that you don't feel and you haven't written, its just lies.”
“Making ‘Letters’ I was in a relationship, I was falling in love, I was happy, but the album was the complete opposite,” continues Cardle. “With this one, through heartbreak and absolute devastation I've come out with something that is way more positive.”
An experienced live performer with a sold-out 23 date tour behind him, this album has been written with the live performances very much in mind. “It won’t be a plod. This will have shape and a dynamic – I can’t wait to get out and give it a go live.”
His stall is set out from the start with his unmistakable vocal on opener ‘It’s Only Love’.
Co-written with Paul Statham, the man behind Dido’s ‘Hear With Me.’
“The vocal comes straight in and it's big, it's like ‘We're back!’, says Matt. “You've got to come out swinging and that’s what this song is all about.”
Title track ‘The Fire’ follows, another huge track which sounds like ‘Thank You’ by Alanis Morissette meets The Verve’s ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony.’
‘For Every Heartbreak’, written with trusted collaborator Steve Booker (Adele, Duffy),
is another example of Matt’s honest lyrics from the relationships that haven’t survived. He sings ‘I have no fear/I feel sick inside the times I have you near. The pain inside is enough to remind me I don't need you here.’
Matt holds his hands up, “Again it relates to the career situation and the situation with my ex-girlfriend. When I left Sony it was like ‘is this it?’ But hopefully it's just the beginning of something that is much better than what was previously. Not that previous was bad, I’m really proud of ‘Letters’, but you're constantly just striving to do better, be better.”
‘Anyone Else’ he believes is the most pop-heavy track on the album. “It's basically about not being able to make up my mind whether I want to sleep around or not! If you're a dancer you can probably move to it, it's got a good feel to it.”
‘Lately’, a co-write with Starsailor’s James Walsh, could only come from the chemistry of a writing partnership that has excelled through friendship.
“We just thought because of the sound of the track and the feel of it, it would be something positive. It’s the only track with James on the album, but it was one that I just loved.”
With ‘All That Matters’ Matt reveals the first song he has written on piano. He says: “I’m Grade One piano if I’m lucky! I thought about getting my Tele out, but because that song is so emotional, so raw, it needs to be piano. And it was written on piano. I started writing it when I split from my ex and it just fell out of me.”
‘Empire’ came after a wild night in LA with former Spurs striker Robbie Keane. Cardle’s a man who believes he writes best with a hangover -and this could be proof of his theory.
“This was the first song that was upbeat after my girlfriend and I had split. It’s about losing love, losing my faith”, he says. “But after I'd been in LA for a bit, and I realised there was a whole world out there to enjoy again.”
The delicacy and emotion in ‘Water’ is a tearjerker of a track, marking a change of pace on the album. “It's just a straight up song about loss. I've listened to tracks and one sentence has made sense to me, and then the whole song becomes about it. I think if you've lost anyone, mother, brother, father, daughter whatever, as long as there is a mention of it in there, then the song can do that.”
‘Anywhere’, written with Ben Earle, is channeling a bit of the Paul Simon spirit. He jokes: “This will be my chance to get three Namibian primary schools on stage when I play it live!”
The album closes with Cardle’s spine-tingling version of ‘The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face’, a Ewan McColl song made famous by Roberta Flack. It’s the kind of song all artists strive for when they are hunting for the right way to finish an album, and provides a perfect crescendo for ‘The Fire’.
There will be no shortage of people chipping in to offer the last word on Matt. He understands that would be part of the transaction of appearing on THAT show. He is not bitter. Far from it. He appreciates the opportunity it has given him. The chance, ultimately, to give his fans ‘The Fire’. And no-one can extinguish that.
North & South America: doug@silvascreenusa.com
Europe, Asia & Australia: david@silvascreen.co.uk
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