Photo Credit : Cayllan Cassavia // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Recently, summersets, the duo of Kalle Mattson and his childhood friend and long-time bandmate Andrew Sowka, shared the new single, “Move Back Home”. Today, they return with another new track, “If You Were A Stranger”. “Since 2021 I’ve taught songwriting in the music department at Carleton University,” says Mattson. “Teaching at any level was certainly not something I ever thought I would do, but in teaching songwriting, it’s opened up a lot more areas in my own writing (what’s the saying ‘the best way to learn is to teach’? I think they also say ‘those that can’t do, teach’ but whatever). Every songwriter I know admires John Prine, but only until you try and write like him do you realize how hard it is to be genuine and funny all at once. ‘If You Were A Stranger’ was my attempt at writing a genuine love song for my partner (with a splash of humour), and I think it features some great understated playing from Jim Bryson, Christine Bougie, and Peter Von Althen, one of our favourites.”
WATCH / SHARE “IF YOU WERE A STRANGER” HERE
BUY / STREAM “IF YOU WERE A STRANGER” HERE
Previous single “Move Back Home” is about “the housing crisis in Canada, and specifically how our generation (millennials) have had to settle for a life that looks markedly different from the ones our parents led,” says Mattson. “The characters in the song are a composite of so many of our friends in their early 30s who are moving back to our hometown (Sault Ste. Marie, ON), after living in larger cities, because “moving back home” is their only real option of ever owning a home or starting a family. I’ve made peace that I will probably never own a home, what was an option for previous generations is not one for me, but I wanted to put that reality into a song where the characters are ‘settling’ and ‘settling down’, both for each other and in the larger context of their lives.”
WATCH / SHARE “MOVE BACK HOME” HERE
BUY / STREAM “MOVE BACK HOME” HERE
MORE ABOUT SUMMERSETS
summersets is the new duo from JUNO Award and Polaris Music Prize nominated singer-songwriter Kalle Mattson, and longtime collaborator Andrew Sowka. Influenced by the storytelling of John Prine and delivered with the delicacy of Simon & Garfunkel, their debut full-length, small town story, was produced by Jim Bryson (Kathleen Edwards, The Weakerthans) and nominated for both a 2024 Ontario Folk Music Award and a 2025 Canadian Folk Music Award. They are currently in the studio working on their followup LP once again with Jim Bryson, Peter Von Althen (Skydiggerrs) and Christine Bougie (Bahamas), due out next year.
