Matthew Young: 'Simple things can have great impact'

Matthew Young: "Some of the songs on this EP are admittedly kind of fickle." Photo / supplied

Matthew Young wants to play small, intimate shows – but his fans have other ideas.

"I liked the idea of playing really tiny little club venues," says the Kiwi singer-producer, whose Friday show moved from the basement of Galatos to the main space due to high demand. "But we had a lot of interest from a lot of people in general, outside my own friend and family circles, so it seemed to be the right move."

Young may be surprised at the interest, but it almost feels inevitable – especially when listening to his new EP, Fruit. The 7-track release is a powerfully mature collection of RnB-infused pop, with Young's honeyed vocals sliding effortlessly over polished synths and dynamic beats.

Twangy, tropical guitars infuse Fruit with an often poignant, summery warmth – which contrasts Young's journey with the EP. He describes it as the "fruit of the most fruitless season of my life" – a period of time in which Young was diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder and took time off to focus on his health.

But Fruit wasn't a result of Young waiting for inspiration to strike – rather an extended period of "chipping and chipping away" at things.

"It's not to say that a lot of the music that I wrote was crap – some of it was really sad, and some of it didn't feel right to release. It felt maybe too personal at that stage," he says.

"Everything had to take a back seat so I could focus on general wellbeing, and so some of the songs on this EP are admittedly kind of fickle, but I like that about them, and some are a little deeper."

That fickleness shows on songs like single Hey, which has amassed almost 3 million streams on Spotify; a "love song about just getting hammered with the person you love", says Young. "That's it. There's nothing deep there really, and I'm fine with that. Simple things can have great impact."

The song is also indicative of Young's process of finding his way out of darker headspaces. "There were moments where I was not doing well, I was quite low," Young continues. "In that sense [the song] is wishful thinking; being able to throw caution to the wind, and just have like a night of doing whatever you want with someone you love, written in a moment where I definitely wasn't doing that."

Performing live isn't Young's first love – he's more at home in the studio, tinkering away on Pro Tools and Ableton. But he draws a very singular emotion from performing, one that keeps him coming back.

"Those moments when you hop on, and everything's sounding good from sound check, and you know that there's a whole bunch of people there who are coming to enjoy your music in a live sense – that's one of those feelings that's pretty indescribable."

LOWDOWN:
Who: Matthew Young
What: Fruit EP release tour
When: Friday June 22
Where: Galatos