Matt Maltese

Singer, songwriter and pianist Matt Maltese studied on our BA Creative Musicianship degree course. In 2017 he signed a deal with Atlantic Records and has since gone on to release two critically acclaimed albums. 

During his time at ICMP, Matt engaged with our Careers and Industry Team, The Hub, who helped and advised him through a variety of early career choices and provided a sounding board for his music.

Matt met Pete Simmons (Universal Publishing) during an A&R one-to-one session at an ICMP Careers Day, organised by The Hub. As a direct result of this meeting, Matt signed a publishing deal with Universal.

While studying at ICMP, Matt also performed at one of our Songwriters' Circle events, alongside  Natasha North, and as a result was asked to open for her on the London dates for her tour. 

In 2017, Matt signed a deal with Atlantic Records and his career and fanbase started to build  momentum through a series of high-profile support slots. These included a UK and European tour with Hamilton Leithauser  and also supporting UK indie band The Maccabees on their farewell tour.  Following this, Matt released the track ‘As The World Caves In’,  which was widely praised with culture magazine The Fader describing the track as a ‘moving’ musical commentary on current global events.

His track ‘Even If It’s A Lie’ received support from Burberry, Radio X and Apple Music and he went on to perform throughout the UK in support of his debut EP, 'In a New Bed', which included tracks produced by Hugo White (The Maccabees). 

In 2017, Matt went on to perform at the Green Man Festival, Live at Leeds Festival  and at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton, being described by NME as “the UK’s answer to Father John Misty”. 

In June 2018, Matt released his debut album 'Bad Contestant' to rave reviews: "'Bad Contestant' sets Maltese on the start of a path that marks him out as a true prodigious talent" - "This is the voice of a true original".

Throughout 2018, Matt toured extensively playing numerous festivals and completed his own headline UK tour. 'Bad Contestant' was also selected as one of the NME's '14 best debut albums of 2018… so far'.

The NME said:

On ‘Bad Contestant’, the 21-year-old creates a stunning debut that is packed with wisdom beyond his tentative years, and lyrics filled with scathing humour at every turn… It’s an impressive and consistently varied effort.”

 In 2019, Matt played SXSW in Austin (USA) and in the autumn released his second well-received LP 'Krystal'. The NME described the album as being from "one of Britain’s most magical songwriters at his enchanting best".​

Global superstars like Doja Cat and BTS' Kim Taehyung have become firm fans with the former hosting an Instagram Live sing along of 'Curl Up And Die'. Frank Ocean has also featured Matt's single 'Rom-Com Gone Wrong' on his Blonded Radio.

He is the founder of the independent record label, Last Recordings of Earth and is now working as an independent artist with his latest release including 'Songs That Aren't Mine', a collection of unique covers released in March 2024.  

He has also been announced as the composer for the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) upcoming stage production of 'Twelfth Night'. 

Visit matt-maltese.com to find out more.