Mat Kearney is a Nashville-based singer who made a splash with 2006’s “Nothing Left to Lose”, but didn’t get the appreciation and fame at that time, as critics considered that the album didn’t reflect his true talent and that he can do better. So he stayed in the shadow for some time, thinking how to explore his potential so that fans and critics understand him better and liked him as well. He has finally found a way and his latest album, “Young Love“, is more than a simple album.

Mat Kearney - Young Love Album Cover

The album reflects the trajectory of his music career halfway through his third album, it’s the perfect combination between hip-hop, adult alternative, and classic storytelling. Jared Johnson, All Music Guide, said that “There are sounds influenced by Bruno Mars’ flirtatiousness (”She Got the Honey”), Jason Mraz’s hip-hop fusion (”Ships in the Night”), and even Elvis Costello’s retro-rock coolness (”Young Dumb and in Love”). And don’t forget the children’s voices on “Count on Me” that make you want to pick up a jump rope and join in a playground game of Double Dutch. Most of Young Love works like a soft summer soundtrack that sounds best when played in its entirety.”
Now, the modest singer-songwriter Mat has taken over the No.1 spot on iTunes, bumping the best-selling Adele off the top spot. It seems that this took him by surprise as well, as he said in a press interview that he feels “It’s very surreal. I’m going to wake up from this dream that I’ve been having.” But he is thrilled to hear his songs on the radio: “It definitely hasn’t grown old,” he says. “I still definitely turn it up when I hear myself on the radio.”

Moreover, it looks like the most appreciated song from this fourth album is the single “Hey Mama,” for which Mat found the inspiration to write it by taking a look back into his past. The single is about meeting his wife: “Couldn’t be more opposite, I’m hard to please and you’re hard to get, You’re Mississippi and I’m Oregon, You’re sun tanned and I’m porcelain skinned.” So Mat explains: “We met at a clothing store called Anthropologie,” he reveals. “I was shopping for my sister-in-law and I was doing the whole, ‘Hey will you help me pick out the dress because I don’t know what I’m doing’ kind of thing - that was my pick up line - and she was not feeling it at all. She said ‘that dress is ugly and I know what you’re trying to do.’”

Nevertheless, “Hey Mama” is not the only worthy-of-appreciation song. “Chasing The Light” and “She Got the Honey,” “Count on Me” and “Learning To Love Again” proves that Mat’s music will not let us down.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 22nd, 2011 at 12:42 pm and is filed under News.