A common refrain from artists about to release a new project: This is the best record I've ever made.
But when singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson talks about his forthcoming 10th studio album "Show Me Your Fangs," he cuts straight to the chase:
βI feel like every record over the last couple has been moving toward this honesty thing, where I donβt try and keep up appearances essentially," he explained during a phone call from home in San Francisco last week. "I just sort of try to let whatβs in me come out and be honest about ugly things as I am about things that are beautiful, and parts of myself that might be embarrassing or vulnerable, I try to lean into those."
The result is an album filled with songs worthy of hitting replay.
We chatted with Nathanson, who is on the My 92.9 Oro Valley Music Festival lineup on Sunday, Sept. 13, about the album, which comes out Oct. 2.
Do you total love it?
βI do, kind of the most that Iβve ever loved any of my records after itβs done. Thereβs always a couple of weeks where itβs done and I donβt want to hear it. This one has the largest percentge of songs that I kind of want to hear and looking forward to playing. Itβs pretty rad to be 10 records in and feel like I made this record that I like, that I enjoy listening to more than the others. It makes me hopeful that this can be a trend, that every record can feel better than the last.β
What is different about this album for you?
βI feel like this record has that (honesty) going on more than any other record. Itβs in the title of βShow Me Your Fangs,β tthat idea of show me the ugliest parts of yourself, the scariest parts of yourself. Iβm not going to run away from it. Itβs as much about me as it about someone else.
βTrackwise, I just like this record. We wrote a ton of songs and the ones that made the record were the ones that felt the best, that felt the most honest and realized and comfortable.β
You have a song on βFangsβ about Bill Murray.
βBill Murray is kind of the patron saint of my life. I feel like, his public persona, everything I know about him is as a guy who sort of only works on things he wants to work on and only works from his gut instinct. He has like a 1-800 number or something and thatβs the only way you can get ahold of him. So directors call him and leave him a message β¦ and he kind of picks and chooses. He seems like heβs fearlessly confident. And when heβs not fearlessly confident, heβs not afraid to show that. heβs somebody Iβd like to model my life after.in a certain way, in my career.
βWhen I was writing it I was thinking βWouldnβt it be fun to hang with Bill Murray, to just travel the world with him for like 100 days or something and get to bounce all his wisdom and all my questions off of him.β I had a dream that Bill Murray was my friend and we traveled the world together.β
You also have a song called βWashington State Fight Song.β Rachel Platten has her βFight Songβ and you have one. Are you going to play it here?
βI feel like my fight song will be eclipsed by her βFight Song.β My fight song should just take a break. My fight song is much more of an introspective, depressing fight song. Herβs is more of a βletβs do thisβ fight song. β¦ I would totally stab (the audience) in the sadness place. So she should have the fight song.β
What kind of a preview of the album will we hear Sunday?
βWeβre definitely going to do a song or two, but since itβs not out, Iβm trying to keep the element of surprise.
