Matthew Sweet is back with a new album, Catspaw, which will be out January 15 via Omnivore Recordings. The record, which he finished right before pandemic lockdown, is his first truly "solo" effort; he plays everything on the album except drums, which were played by longtime collaborator Ric Menck. "For me, being an artist is ultimately a solitary thing,” he says. “I’ve taken comfort in that as I’ve grown older. Success and people come and go in life, but I know I will always be making music and that it continues to be fun and intriguing — that mystery of discovering what a song is going to become."
On previous records he often tapped greats like Richard Lloyd, Robert Quine or Ivan Julian for lead guitar, but this time he did it himself. “Richard’s [Lloyd] playing influenced me a lot — the ambition he has, that feeling when he just lets loose. I not only related to the approach, I related to it musically. I was also developing my ear over time. Now I can hear where I want a lead line to go.”