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​JPNSGRLS Frontman Goes Solo as Matt and Sam's Brother, Premieres New Video

BY Sarah MurphyPublished Nov 21, 2016

JPNSGRLS released their latest LP Divorce earlier this year, but the band's singer Charlie Kerr has been keeping extra busy with a solo project on the side. He's been recording on his lonesome under the moniker Matt and Sam's Brother, and Exclaim! is pleased to introduce you to the new project with the video premiere of "Spacesuit."
 
The track comes from a debut album that is slated to arrive in 2017 through Light Organ Records. It's a record that found Kerr compiling songs written throughout his career that didn't quite fit with the scrappy rock'n'roll of JPNSGRLS, from as far back as when he was 16.

UPDATE (2/10, 4:45 p.m. EST): Matt and Sam's Brother have now revealed that My Brain Hurts a Lot will be released via Light Organ Records on April 21.
 
Freedom from the constraints of a multi-person setup allowed Kerr to play with song ideas that range from alt-country stompers to string-accompanied piano ballads — with a few nods to his indie rock roots as well. It also allowed him to get more introspective with his songwriting.
 
"I've grown up from the person who wrote those words, but I can still 100 percent connect to them," Kerr said in a statement. "I showed the songs to a friend of mine and she said, 'This is like reading your diary.' It's a personal set of songs."
 
"Spacesuit" is the first audio snippet to emerge from the upcoming record, and it hears Kerr grappling with his own experiences with depression and thoughts of morbidity.
 
"It's trying to articulate something that's kind of unexplainable, which is the combination of self-loathing and delusions of grandeur that plagues artists and human beings in general," he said. "My mind can really turn on a dime. The song explores the human brain — or mine, at least."
 
Elaborate facepaint jobs and a trippy cosmic backdrop in the track's accompanying video help Kerr deliver his debut as Matt and Sam's Brother. Check it out for yourself below.
 

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