Ones2Watch Home

Matilda Mann is currently gearing up for the release of her debut album Roxwell, slated to release on February 28, 2025. She has already released three songs from the project and has been taking them out for a test drive while on tour with Wallows this month and in November with Role Model. The crowds could not be having a better response to her honest and colorful take on love and growing up, mixed with her charming and infectious indie sonics. We sat down with Matilda Mann on the very first stop of Wallows’s “Model Tour” in Brussels, Belgium to chat about all things new music and touring.

OnesToWatch: We are here today with Matilda Mann!

Matilda Mann: Hello!

We’re in Brussels and you’re opening for Wallows for their “Model Tour.” How did that happen?

I have no idea, I think sheer luck. I've been a really big fan, and I haven't toured Europe that much before, so I was super excited to hear that this is the slot I got. It's already been so lovely. They have such nice fans, so it's great.

Were you a bit starstruck when you met them?

It's so weird to see people that you've only ever seen on a screen, I sometimes have friends that I've only ever followed online. And then we meet and I'm like, “Oh, it's so weird that you have a whole body.” It's unnerving sometimes.

Today is only the first stop on the tour, but how are the vibes so far and how is the crowd?

I was a bit nervous because, obviously, they're not coming to see you. So, you don't know if the crowd is going to be like, “This is boring.” But they're so nice and very supportive. They really listen, which is crazy. I love them. I've also never been to Brussels, I got to eat waffles and fries. I heard that the French stole that name.

What do you think Wallows are wallowing about?

What could they be wallowing about? They seem pretty put together and happy. But maybe because the French stole the French fries. That's why they've come here to Belgium twice, to avenge you.

Your debut album, Roxwell, is coming out on February 28, 2025!

People have to mark their calendars. It's a national holiday. Be there or be square!

What does this album mean to you? And what was the process of making it?

Everything! It's been a year in the making, but there are songs on it I wrote when I was 20, about four or five years ago. And it comes out like a week after my 25th birthday. So, I'll be having a quarter-life crisis... and then Roxwell will come out and maybe that will fix everything.

I really wanted to make an album with a bunch of different styles and every kind of song I like to write. I didn't want to limit myself. I just really enjoy lyrics and I like songs that make me feel certain ways, so that was the aim.

What are some themes we can expect on the album?

There's a lot about love, because we all love love. And then I guess there are some songs about being worried that you can't be there for someone fully and getting in your own head. A lot of it's about letting things go and reminiscing. It's very therapeutic. It's an ICU. How we're all in this together.

You've already released three of the songs on this album, “Meet Cute,” “Say It Back,” and “Tell Me That I'm Wrong.” Are these songs some of your favorites on the album or is there a reason you decided to release them first?

For the first release, we wanted to do two different songs, “Meet Cute” and “Say It Back.” I just loved the strings on them. I love “Say It Back,” it's one of my favorites on the album, but there are better ones actually; that to be honest, were written like a month ago. I'm going to play two of them tonight during the show.

Your music videos are so wonderful. Each of them has such a beautiful film-like quality. How do you go about transforming your ideas into music videos?

Recently, I've been doing them with my friend Ben Harris, who's a director. I think it's so unique and special to work with someone who knows you really well. He knows my music and the whole project that's about to come out. He has a really unique eye but also listens a lot to ideas that I'd like to do. “Say It Back,” to be honest, was pretty much all his idea. Then the “Meet Cute” video, I wanted it to be loads of iconic meet cutes and recreating scenarios, then we made a miniature.

What would be your dream meet cute?

At a gig would be really fun.

In the “Make it Home” music video you are dragging a Christmas tree all over the place. Is Christmas a favorite holiday of yours or were taking all of your feelings out on that tree?

I do love Christmas, it's my favorite holiday. I'm more of an autumn girl than any other season. Summer stresses me out and winter's just depressing, but I love everything up to January, and then when April starts, everything's good. But that Christmas tree survived and we still used it to decorate the house that year. He's alive!

You have this lovely cover of an ABBA song, “Slipping Through My Fingers.” Does it link to your album with the theme of reminiscing?

I wish it did, but I just like the song. There is a song at the end of the album called “Girls”, which is about two of my best friends that I met when we were three. I like songs that are also not about romantic love, because you have so many different kinds of relationships and love in your life. I like that mother-daughter relationship.

Are you going to wear the big cherry earrings tonight?

No, I've moved on. I wore them maybe too much for my liking. Then someone gave me these new hoops and now these are all I wear. I get quite hyper-fixated on certain things. Like I probably won't change these until someone gives me a new pair.

What was it like for you when you first realized people were connecting with your music?

It's so weird because I didn't really have a plan to be an artist. I'm kind of still winging it all. It's so lovely that people resonate with what I play and they like it, I just didn't expect it. I'm just continuing to do it until people stop listening.

What was your plan then when you started releasing music?

I just thought I would write songs for other artists and they sing it. I really wanted to be a music supervisor for movies and TV.

How did you start writing songs and how did it evolve over time?

I've actually never written for someone else. No one picked that up. I left school and I just wrote my own songs and I was like, “Well, I don't know who's going to sing this. So, I will.” And then my manager found me on SoundCloud and he's been great ever since.

What gives you the impression that someone looks like they can’t swim?

They just look like they're panicking all the time. I wrote that song because the first time I ever went to LA to write, I didn't know why I had been flown there. I was like, “How am I going to make it? What should I do?” I felt like everyone knew I couldn’t do this job. And so, I panicked and wrote that song. It was musical therapy. I'm actually quite good at that. I'd say I'd give myself a pat on the back for self-help.

Do you have any rituals before going on stage?

I always write out my setlist. I have to write it out myself with a pen. I don't know why, I've just always done it. And it has all my weird notes on it, so that I don't forget. I also have to use a gold capo. It's not pure gold because I'm not that cool. But my mum gave it to me when I was 12 and like I've had it since, I've never not played with it. That and I also have to have a Vocalzone [lozenge] before I go on stage.

You're doing Europe and then you're going back over to the UK for a series of shows. Does it excite you a bit more to play at home, or is it really cool to venture out?

I love the UK. But I think it's maybe slightly easier to play in other countries because everything here is new to me and I'm naturally just a bit more excited. I also think particularly, in London, people are very reserved when we like things, but I need a lot of hyping up to stay on stage. I do love the London crowd because I'm from London, so obviously I do and it's more like home. It always feels like a big party because a lot of my friends come. And while I do love the UK, I actually have seen very little of it. We love the Irish.

Who are your OnesToWatch? 

I really love Ryan Beatty's music. He's definitely not small, but I love him. And his music is great. I love Leith Ross, they're great. There is also Hope Tala who is amazing and I love Role Model ́s newest album. I ́m actually going on tour with him soon in the UK!