‘Nobody Like U’ from Matty Hendley is the summertime romper that we didn’t know we needed, but now that it’s in our life, we couldn’t imagine another sun-soaked day without it. Sounding like a blend between Milky Chance and Charlie Puth, this one puts the anthem in anthemic. From the first few seconds, the listener will immediately be put into an optimistic mood with that plucked melody, which evolves into a loop that blends beautifully with the rest of the song’s joyful instrumentation, such as the rich acoustic guitar, buoyant banjo, punching beats and late 2010s synths à la M83.
Speaking about the song’s vivacious style, Matty Hendley tells us that, “‘Nobody Like U’ is the sound I’ve been trying to find for a long time. I call it “deep-south pop,” because I think the banjo embodies the spirit of the southern US – the place where I grew up listening to and playing folk and americana music, though I was never certain whether this part of the country was really where I belonged or not. I want to be really open and honest about love and hurt and the complicated nature of relationships in my lyrics. And I hope that this song and all of my music lets other men know that it’s okay to feel things deeply, it’s okay to be vulnerable, and you can still love with a broken heart.”
Atop of it all is the romantic indie-pop voice of Hendley, whose subtly accented vocal surrenders to all emotions with lyrics like “I’ve never met nobody like you!” Another stand-out lyrics is “straight out of a movie”, which perhaps inspired this cinematic indie-pop meets folky meets alt-dance track. As much as we love the non-stop energy and kinetic movement of this track, Hendley had enough forethought to insert a little downtempo contrast into the song around the 2:12 mark. Hence, we have the fresh verse prioritising the artist’s conversational tone accompanied by that youthful banjo. After that interval, the power picks straight back up and we’re led triumphantly to the song’s end.
Matty Hendley is probably the first to admit that ‘Nobody Like U’ runs the line of being a little corny, but that’s love for you, and his honesty is ultimately what wins the day.
You can listen to ‘Nobody Like U’ in our Shades of Pop playlist.
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