Cat Matthews – Greener Pastures/Happiness Is Sad
Los Angeles-born Cat Matthews thought she might never sing again. A routine operation that went awry led to a trachea tear that rendered the young singer mute for months. Written entirely in her head during her period of voicelessness, today the singer-songwriter shares two new singles “Greener Pastures” and “Happiness is Sad,” which marks the first release from Cat in over 4 years.
With gentle vocals on display and a tender heart on her sleeve, 24-year-old Cat Matthews ushers in her next chapter with two gorgeous new singles that capture the energy and spirit of the Laurel Canyon-inspired music she grew up listening to. The folk-inflected tracks, peppered with piano, organ, drums, and harmonica all played by Cat herself, were tracked live on a 16-track tape machine.
On the dreamy folk-leaning lead single “Greener Pastures,” it was Cat’s forced silence that led her to find her voice. “‘Greener Pastures’ was actually the first song I had written after my tracheal injury,” she shares. “I was going through so many changes and felt really bogged down when thinking about decisions I had made— from doubting my decision to drop out of NYU to regretting a lot of aspects of my former relationship. My injury had set me back in a way that I thought would change my life for the foreseeable future. That idea haunted me a lot during that period of mandated silence but in a way, for the first time, I had found my voice as a writer when I couldn’t speak.”
The track’s softer b-side “Happiness is Sad” was inspired by her first major heartbreak. Cat took to Reddit (r/breakups) for a sense of commiseration and was inspired by an anonymous Redditor who wrote that months into his breakup, his ability to find joy again was always quickly followed by profound melancholy because he could no longer share his happiness with the person he loves most.
Cat has an exciting fall ahead with an upcoming performance at RedWest Fest in Salt Lake City on October 5th, where she’ll share the stage with the likes of Alana Springsteen, Dylan Gossett, Megan Moroney, Zach Top, and more.
#catmatthews