THE ONE-MAN ANTIDOTE TO TOXIC MASCULINITY

Matt Maltese's funny, self-effacing ballads have turned him into an unlikely heart-throb — but none of it would have happened without a song about Theresa May and the apocalypse.

- By Lisa Wright

In a world of Andrew Tate, we can only hope that the next generation chooses to be a little more Matt Maltese.

A one-man antithesis of toxic masculinity with a polo-neck and a piano, the 29-year-old has spent the past decade writing increasingly self-aware, unfiltered vignettes on life and love, peppered with observations that are frequently funny, often heartbreaking and regularly both at the same time.

Starting in cult alternative circles, playing fish-out-of-water sets at Brixton's post-punk mecca The Windmill, he's since been adopted by a whole new fanbase. It began online with breakthrough hit As the World Caves In — more on that later — and his popularity has since taken him around the globe several times over.

With more than five million listeners tuning into his Spotify each month, the appetite for the floppy-haired balladeer's self-effacing yet sincere swoons is higher than ever.

He recently pushed it even further with his sixth album, Hers. On luscious lead single Anytime, Anyplace, Anyhow he implores his lover to treat him "like a piece of meat"; on the sumptuous slow jam Pined For You My Whole Life he declares he should get "a PhD in yearning all the time".

There's a willingness to go deep into the romantic trenches that's totally devoid of machismo — so much so that he's previously declared "the best work is where you allow yourself to look pathetic".

Sitting in the sun of Soho Square, he doubles down on the idea. "I haven't heard that many men sing about the intimate sides of relationships and not need it to have any bravado. It feels vulnerable and some of the lyrics are so pathetically horny that it goes beyond vulnerable," he laughs. "But I think it's the most interesting thing I can do. I've been really fortunate just to be born in this time and to be a white man who's an artist - it's a crazy good lottery ticket, right?