Conor Matthews Chats About New EP ‘Fool’s Elegy’ ♥ PlNKWIFI

It’s been a heck of a ride for Conor Matthews, but it’s really only getting started! Today, the R&B/Pop singer-songwriter is unveiling his new EP Fool’s Elegy, and it’s time to dive right into it.

But first, let’s get you caught up on Conor’s journey!

After a year at Belmont University, Conor landed a publishing deal with Keith Urban and Warner Chapelle Music. He then launched his solo career in 2018, independently releasing singles such as “Forever Right Now,” which has received over 7 million streams.

Now, let’s skip to 2020! Conor was signed to Warner Records, and released his debut EP Balloons. The four track project allowed Conor to reflect on some of the most crucial parts of his journey at the time. There were feelings of love, heartbreak, uncertainty, and triumph floating everywhere, and Conor was able to pack them all into the EP.

Over the summer, Conor’s story grew even bigger and better. He released his Heartbreak In The Hills EP, reminding the world that a negative situation can certainly be flipped into a positive one. Inspired by his experience of splitting from a toxic relationship that lasted three years, Conor was able to create an anthemic collection of tracks that highlighted some of the benefits of finally being free. One of those tracks was “Hit Me Back,” a way too relatable collaboration with Social House about being ghosted.

As the fall rolled in, Conor decided to slow things up one notch with “How Many Times Can A Heart Break.” Life isn’t always a party, and Conor opened up about many of his innermost thoughts through this song. He shared, “‘How Many Times Can A Heart Break’ isn’t as much about heartbreak in the sense of falling in love as it is about battling depression and facing myself in the mirror. It’s a song I started just under a year ago after thinking about all the mistakes I’ve made and people I’ve hurt and friends I’ve lost and the failures I’ve had… It felt like everything from my past was catching up with me and overwhelming me at the same time. The song took me about a year to finish and is probably the most vulnerable song I’ve ever written.”

Fool’s Elegy unites “How Many Times Can A Heart Break” with “Wait For Me,” and a brand new track, “Loves Me Lonely.” Read Conor spill about the project below!

Fool’s Elegy introduces us to a very heartfelt track, “Loves Me Lonely.” Would you mind spilling about how it came to life?

I wrote “Loves Me Lonely” with some of my best friends. We had been searching for an idea for like three hours and had already started four songs but none of them felt right. We started talking about toxic people and how they’ve affected us in the past. And a couple of us had similar stories of people not wanting to be with you but also not wanting to let you go. So you keep breaking up and getting back together because every time you try to move on, they show back up like they want you now, when they really don’t. So the cycle continues. Someone started playing this guitar part and after talking about all that stuff I started singing “she loves me lonely” and the rest just came together.

Over the course of the past year, you’ve been cranking out quite a bit of tunes. How has the state of the world influenced the way you’ve approached creating music, and especially the songs on this EP?

Well, for one I started producing this year because of all the studios being closed. That was a huge moment of growth because I always had the ideas in me, but never did it myself since I was always the writer and singer in the room.

Looking back upon your previous releases, how would you say you’ve evolved as an artist over the past year?

Now, I create a lot of my own vibes and am very hands on in the production process. With the down time, I’ve also been to tap into some sides of me and vocal skills I didn’t know I had. 2021 is gonna be some of my greatest work because of that.

What has been one of your favorite career moments of 2020?

Definitely my collabs with Tank and Social House. Other than that, seeing how my music has reacted internationally has been so amazing. Young Conor would be freakin’ out if he could see all the love from across the world. Knowing I’m building a platform like that to touch people’s lives has been incredible.

What is one of the biggest things you hope listeners will take from this project?

I hope people learn to be honest with where they are and how they feel. There’s so much emphasis on where you wanna be vs where you are these days. I just wanted to open up about my own struggles and hopefully anyone who loves the music can feel comfortable doing the same. It’s ok to be struggling and life is more than about reaching goals.

To wrap things up, and especially since the holidays are right around the corner – what is one of your absolute favorite holiday traditions?

I love setting up the Christmas tree with my family. Every year we pick a day to play Christmas music, drink some holiday cocktails and hang childhood ornaments on the tree. Always gets me in the spirit!