English singer/songwriter Matilda Mann dives deep into the love, loss, and late-night revelations that inspired her debut album ‘Roxwell,’ a cinematic coming-of-age record full of soul, swagger, and self-discovery.

Stream: ‘Roxwell’ – Matilda Mann

A debut album is arguably one of the most important parts of any artist’s catalog.

It’s how they formally announce themselves as an artist – and it serves as their introduction to the world.

Of course, artists can evolve and change – so long as it feels organic to who they are in that moment it will always resonate for those who count. That said, it can be hard to carve a hole out of a debut that is singular.

At 25, London’s Matilda Mann has entered our airwaves as a folk singer/songwriter with amazing records such as “The Day I Met You” and “Four Leaf Dream” and while at her core it is her lyrics and story-telling that will always remain essential, with her debut album Roxwell (February 28^th via 7476), the two-time Atwood Editor’s Pick and Artist to Watch introduces herself to the world not just as a folk artist, but as an artist who can seamlessly weave together moments of R&B, soul, pop and rock into a cohesive album.

With songs that pull us in and deliver an unexpected punch like “Meet Cute,” to tracks like “Dazed & Confused,” which almost have a Haim-like quality to them, and “Worst Person Alive” which is so brutally honest, Mann manages to scale the spectrum of what music can be while still creating the sonically sound world that brings Roxwell to such great heights.

She proves she can do just about anything, establishing herself as a singular and fast-rising voice for her generation.

Atwood Magazine recently sat down with Matilda Mann shortly after the release of her debut album for an intimate conversation about her journey to this special moment.

We talk Roxwell’s creation, songs Mann is most excited to play live, and how sometimes she doesn’t know how she feels about a situation until she writes it down. We also discuss her experiences of love, heartbreak, and friendship throughout her early twenties, and how she was able to pull from all those experiences to build what we know now as her debut album, Roxwell.

Matilda Mann’s UK/Europe tour kicks off in Dublin on April 20th – Stream Roxwell and go see her live!

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:: stream/purchase Roxwell here ::

:: connect with Matilda Mann here ::

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“All That Was Said” – Matilda Mann

A CONVERSATION WITH MATILDA MANN

Matilda Mann: I’ve never made an album before. I’ve always just written songs and I guess the only time I felt like I was putting out a particular genre was with my EP You Look Like You Can’t Swim. That one is all primarily folk acoustic songs, which is definitely my happy place. I think your debut album is kind of a very big statement you’re putting in the world. This is me as an artist, and I think I really wanted to make sure I wasn’t a folk artist. I also love indie music, pop and folk. I just wanted to throw every kind of song that I like to do into this album, but my best take on it, I guess.

Matilda Mann: Maybe “See You Later.”

Matilda Mann: Yeah, I think my favorite lyrics are “Worst Person Alive” and I’m the most excited to perform “Say It Back” and “Autopilot” on tour. I’ve never played “Autopilot” live before, so I’m excited for that.

Matilda Mann: Yes. It’s so weird. I wrote “Autopilot,” “Common Sense,” and “All That Was Said” all in one month when I was 20.

Matilda Mann: Yeah, I did a lot. I turned 21 and had a breakup on my 21st, and it was in the middle of the pandemic in February.

Matilda Mann: And I dunno if winter just falls on me being sad or if it’s my birthday, but every year I find it really hard to function. But what I’ve started to notice is that, well, at least it’s a pattern and at least I always get better. I think that’s the hardest thing to remember when you are in a tough spot, is that it’s just a spot. It’s just, it is just temporary. The worst feeling is when you’re like, this is my life forever. That’s why “Autopilot” is happy sounding with sad words. Sometimes you just gotta fake it till you make it and until you’re happy again.

Matilda Mann: Ah yes! I actually wrote it really subconsciously. I wrote it when I was in a relationship.

Matilda Mann: Yep. It was one of those relationships where it was coming towards the end, but I felt like there were so many songs about being dumped and about someone betraying you and hurting you, and there’s not one about maybe you being the bad guy. The only one I knew was Holly Humberstone’s “Antichrist.” It’s like, am I such a terrible person? In this relationship and in this moment – I felt so bad. There was nothing I could point at to be like, this is where you fucked up, or this is where I fucked up. It just wasn’t working and neither of us wanted to admit it. And I realized I was the one who probably would have to say it. I don’t even know if he cared, but it was going to be a really annoying conversation where I have to be a piece of shit. But it would have been so much worse if I never said anything. I never think a relationship is a waste of time unless you know it’s not going anywhere and you’re too scared to end it.

Matilda Mann: Yeah. I also didn’t know that’s what that song was about until way after it was done. I was literally in a weird kind of daydreaming state writing that song, and then we broke up and two months later my manager was like, Hey, I really like “Worst Person Alive”. What about that for the album? And I was like, what? What’s that song? And then I listened to it and I was like, oh….

Matilda Mann: Yes, definitely. Also with “Tell Me That I’m Wrong.” I wrote it when I was seeing this guy, and we weren’t dating at all, but that whole song is what happened. We met in January and we would go to the pub and it would close at 11:00 PM and then we’d walk in the January winter night until 7:00 AM and he’d be really cold and I’d give him my jacket because I had seven layers on. And I just, we’d come home and all of our friends and family would be like, oh my God, are you guys together? And we’d be like, no, just hanging out. And they’d be like, you fucking idiots. You love each other.

Matilda Mann: Yeah, that was very much that song. I fell in and out of love a few times during this album over the course of when I was 20. I’ve just turned 25 before the album came out, so it’s like the first four years of my twenties and a lot happened.

Matilda Mann: Yeah. I remember walking around with him until 7:00 AM being like, this is so stupid. What am I doing? And I was like, for the plot, if anything, I might write a song about this.

Matilda Mann: That’s the last one that we wrote. We wrote it in August, and I wrote it with Jonah Summerfield who did the whole album. And Noah Levine, who’s Noah Kahan’s guitarist, he’s so lovely and talented. He came down and they both just started playing this guitar part. And I just went, “I’d like to be your answer”. And then we just kept going and wrote the whole song. It’s kind of just about wanting to be there for someone. I feel like life can be so overwhelming and you should be with someone that is the peace in your life – someone that’s just helpful in a really relaxed way, not in a “I have to help you and here’s all the answers” way.

Matilda Mann: Knowing them.

Matilda Mann: Yeah! All of the strings on the album are live by this guy called Toby Tripp, who I wrote “Only So Far Away” with. He’s amazing. He did all of the arrangements and played all of the strings himself. We wrote the verse and the chorus of “Just Because” really quickly – within 20 minutes. And then we were like, sweet, but the song was a minute and 30 seconds. We needed to make it longer and we didn’t know how for so long, so we left it for a year and then we came back to it and Jonah wanted to scrap it, but I fought for it. And then we wrote a pre and it all came together – we’re all so glad we kept it. And it was a great moment.

Matilda Mann: Yeah. It’s quite a sassy song, but it’s more like there’s people that just want to be in love and they want to be in a relationship, but it’s not necessarily who it’s with. It’s just they want to be like, I’ve got a partner, or I’m in love, but they’re not really.

Matilda Mann: More a label, Yeah.

Matilda Mann: It’s actually my least favorite live.

Matilda Mann: It’s really, really hard to sing. And also, I wrote the bass line on it, but I can’t play bass, so I can’t be that cool and play the bass and sing at the same time.

Matilda Mann: Yes, bring someone up to sing it. Actually, with this tour I’m going to use this song and set people up in the audience.

Matilda Mann: Yes – I’m going to do some real life meet-cutes. At every gig, there’s going to be a little box by the merch stand and people can put their name, their age, how they identify, and then the genders they’re interested in so that I can kind of narrow it down somewhat. And then before I go on stage, before I play meet cute, I’m going to call out two names and they win.

Matilda Mann: Yeah. And also I feel like, I don’t know, whenever I go to a gig, I’m like, oh, these feel like my people.

Matilda Mann: Yeah. You’ve already got something in common with them being that you both like to go to shows. If you like to go to gigs  and you like to go and explore, you have an interest in the world. So we could make some good matches.

Matilda Mann: Yeah! The three girl groups are the best. You are all equally there. And you also all have purpose in a weird way. You each have your roles. But yeah, there’s something about three. I met the two girls when we were three at nursery school, and then we went to the same secondary school. We grew up around corner from each other, but we all grew up very differently. They’re really smart girls – they do journalism and economic environmental studies. And I’m like, ah, I sing. Also when they were little, they were both really blonde, and then when they grew up, they became brunette. To this day they dye their hair blonde and tell everyone that they are blonde, they once were. So I had to humble them. I gave them the song, but I had to humble them a little bit.

Matilda Mann: But yeah, to this day, two decades later, they’re still my best friends and always been so supportive.

Matilda Mann: It was super lovely to meet you. Thank you so much for the interview.

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:: stream/purchase Roxwell here ::

:: connect with Matilda Mann here ::

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 © Katie Silvester

Roxwell

an album by Matilda Mann