With his latest album, Matt Nathanson isn’t just saying Show Me Your Fangs — he wants to show you his fangs too. The acclaimed singer-songwriter’s most darkly honest work yet, Show Me Your Fangs finds Nathanson digging deeper than ever before and sharing a powerful and modern-sounding set of new songs that are easily his sharpest and most biting to date. “My last album was called Last of the Great Pretenders, says Nathanson, “and it was my way of announcing that I was done holding back in my songs. I didn’t want to shade out any parts of myself anymore just because they might be seen as ugly or something people wouldn’t want to hear about. These days, as a writer, I’m really only interested in truth.”
On Show Me Your Fangs, the truth isn’t always pretty, but the album’s unflinching honesty and sonic freshness make it a welcome reintroduction to an artist dedicated to pursuing his own truth wherever it leads him. Indeed, one of the central songs on Show Me Your Fangs is entitled “Bill Murray”: a salute to the actor who Nathanson says represents “telling the truth and pulling no punches. He’s my North Star. If I am going to follow any path, I choose that one.” Yet Show Me Your Fangs is a dark ride with the emotional range to also include some of Nathanson’s most engaging and uplifting songs ever, such as the beautifully shimmering and soulful single “Gold In The Summertime” and the massively romantic and anthemic “Giants.”
Musically too, Show Me Your Fangs feels like a step forward from some of Nathanson’s previous triumphs, such as 2007’s Some Mad Hope which featured Nathanson’s double platinum-selling smash “Come On Get Higher” and 2011’s Modern Love. As Nathanson says, “this is the first album I’ve ever made where I was writing almost exclusively to track. When White Ladder by David Gray came out, it felt so revolutionary. I’ve always loved the sound of singer-songwriters using acoustic instruments against cut-up beats and samples. When those elements go together well, it can make a record feel like it was beamed in from mars. Then, more recently, Ed Sheeran took that approach to a new level, and, in a way, re-inspired me. I wanted to make an album where the drums and bass could hit hard and groove, but the intimacy of the song was kept front and center.”
“Of all my albums, this one didn’t really have an over-arching concept until the end,” Nathanson explains. “Once I had the album title, and that amazing photo/painting by Angela Deane for the cover, everything really started to gel and fall into place. The songs on this record don’t pull any punches, they just kinda go for the throat and that feels like the only way forward to me. Making music that strips away the hiding places and tries to be as honest as it can be.”
