Matt C. White Premieres ‘The Way Down’ | A Cosmic Descent Into Fuzzed-Out Psychedelia
Brooklyn-based musician Matt C. White (Certain Death, 95 Bulls) is ready to unveil ‘The Way Down,’ the first single from his forthcoming solo album ‘A Cosmic Year,’ slated for release on August 2 via White Locust Records.
Slated for release on March 28, the track offers a hypnotic glimpse into White’s evolving sonic universe—a fusion of groove-heavy psych, vintage fuzz, and an undercurrent of creeping doom.
Kicking off with a thunderous, primal drum assault, The Way Down quickly locks into an undeniable groove, its thick, hazy guitar tones and synth textures conjuring a soundscape somewhere between Ty Segall and Santana. It’s the kind of track that could soundtrack a slow-motion car crash into the sun—radiant, disorienting, and just a little bit menacing. Beneath the sun-drenched layers, there’s a creeping dread, a sense that the floor is about to drop out from under you. White’s vocals hover over the instrumentation with a detached coolness, like a passenger watching the wreck unfold but too deep in the ride to care.
“I wanted it to feel like the writer is bound for the bottom,” White explains. “But somehow, that last little bit of the fall is the trippiest and brightest—almost like there’s a fear of the tumultuous ride ending, but you want to hold on because it’s prettiest near the bottom.”
Sonically, the track encapsulates the full spectrum of ‘A Cosmic Year’—a record that took two years to complete and serves as a melting pot of White’s musical influences. From the deep blues-infused riffs of his Southern roots to Afrobeat rhythms, off-kilter surf licks, and doom-like stuff. White recorded every instrument himself before passing the final mastering to Matt Labozza (Palm, Yucky Duster, The Giraffes, Fat Heaven).
While known for his blistering proto-metal and post-punk work with Certain Death and 95 Bulls, ‘A Cosmic Year’ sees White stepping into a new realm, one that embraces the weird… If ‘The Way Down’ is any indication, this journey will be one worth taking.
Headline photo: @itsjohnclouse
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