Matt Maltese Announces Sophomore Album Krystal, Releases Video for New Single “Rom-Com Gone Wrong”

When we last heard from 22-year-old British piano singer/songwriter Matt Maltese, he wanted to “Curl Up & Die.” Always dramatic, funny and a bit of a sleazeball, Maltese’s first taste of his then-unannounced sophomore album was markedly different than that of his 2018 record, Bad Contestant. Last year, we called him “simultaneously self-deprecating and profound” and “a 21-year-old girl-obsessed Brit attempting to find love as the world collapses via Trump and Brexit,” but that first taste showed a different side of his smart-ass persona: He’s now going through a breakup, and he’s more heartfelt and honest (with the same amount of wit to boot).

Now, a couple weeks after the release of “Curl Up & Die,” Maltese is announcing the details of his Bad Contestant follow-up, Krystal. Out on Nov. 8 via 7476, Krystal promises to be “ostensibly a breakup record,” something obvious when listening to new single, “Rom-Com Gone Wrong,” a throwback to ’70s piano-based singer/songwriters. It’s not a radical departure from anything on the Jonathan Rado-produced Bad Contestant—though notably it’s self-produced and mixed in Maltese’s bedroom studio in Elephant & Castle—but it’s yet another smooth-as-hell entry in his growing back catalogue.

The new single is also accompanied by a music video directed by Craig Roberts, best-known for his lead role in 2010’s Submarine. “I tried writing some music for one of Craig’s films which inadvertently introduced him to my music, and we struck up an online friendship,” he says. “We realised we both have this kind of awkward sense of humour which lent itself well to a video for ‘Rom-Com Gone Wrong.’ The idea was to create a sort of ‘making of a music video’ music video where I play the part of someone who’s disillusioned with their own music video and doesn’t get on with the director. Basically a music video gone wrong.”

Exciting news from Paste’s #14 best new artist of 2018. Check out the music video, album art, tracklist and upcoming U.K. tour dates below ahead of Krystal’s release on Nov. 8.

Krystal Tracklist:
01. Rom-Com Gone Wrong
02. Tall Buildings
03. Tokyo
04. Wish You’d Ask Me
05. Jupiter
06. Intolewd
07. Krystal
08. Curl Up & Die
09. Human Remains
10. When You Wash Your Hair

Krystal Album Art:

Matt Maltese Tour Dates:

November
16 – Cardiff, U.K. @ So Young Magazine All Dayer, Clwb Ifor Bach
25 – Leeds, U.K. @ Hyde Park Book Club
26 – Manchester, U.K. @ YES MCR Pink Room
27 – London, U.K. @ The Dome
30 – Bristol, U.K. @ Rough Trade