NEWS
Press Release via AS Written, May 2021
LEE RETURNS WITH NOUGHTIES COUNTRY THROWBACK
Singer/songwriter LEE MATTHEWS has finally made his long-awaited return to the airwaves. The Irish country star has just released his own unique take on a real noughties country throwback, I THINK SHE LIKES ME.
The song will be best known to country fans as a track on the One Voice album from American country child star Billy Gilman all the way back in 2000, his debut long-player that reached #2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. In the hands of Lee and his long-time producer Jonathan Owens, however, I Think She Likes Me has been given the kind of make-over that leaves it as an unmistakably Lee Matthews hit.
For Matthews, who has a string of chart-topping albums and singles to his name, I Think She Likes Me is his first post-lockdown release, and it’s one he’s been excited about sharing with his fans…
“I’ve spent the best part of the last eighteen months or so writing new material, and working on some of those songs in the studio as well. Not being able to be on the road for a while really gave me the opportunity to turn my focus on what has probably always been my greatest passion, and that’s writing songs. And even more importantly than that, this last year and more have given me the opportunity to spend more time with my son, Noah. And there’s nothing better for any man’s heart and soul than getting to spend more time with his children, so I’m incredibly grateful for that. But I’m a performer too, and that’s my next big passion after songwriting. And it had just been way too long since I’d shared anything with my fans, that was something I wanted to put right. This song, I Think She Likes Me, is one that might not be so well known to some people, but it’s been one of my favourite American country songs from the 1990s, and I’ve always had it in the back of my mind to take it into the studio someday.”
Matthews continued, “It’s one of those catchy, upbeat songs that has a way of bringing back all kinds of memories of childhood and first love, and things that have a way of putting a smile on peoples’ faces. And that’s exactly what I wanted to do when it came to putting some new music out there again. I’m very, very lucky to have more than 50,000 listeners each month on Spotify, and that’s growing all the time, thank God. Some of my songs actually have more listeners in the United States even than they do in Ireland or the U.K. But regardless of where people are listening, when it came to giving them something new to listen to, well like I said, something to put smiles on faces, that was the first priority. Jonathan and myself had the craic working on this in the studio, and the feedback so far from fans and radio seems to be that everyone else is enjoying it as much as we did.”
I Think She Likes Me – written by George Teren and Bob Regan – was backed by the Northern Ireland Arts Council. And while Matthews drew from the well of songs he loves most from other artists and writers on this occasion, fans can look forward to hearing some new and original music from his own songbook very soon…
“After spending so much time writing and in the studio, I honestly can’t wait to share some of that material with fans. So that’s what’s going to be happening next. The plan is – as it stands at the moment anyway – that my next two singles will probably both be originals. Not sure when we’ll be dropping the first of those just yet, because the reaction to ‘I Think She Likes Me’ has been amazing, so it has a lot of life left to live yet. But there’ll definitely be more new music coming this year, that’s for sure. The wait was long enough, but that wait is over now. Fans can be sure of that, too!”
~ I THINK SHE LIKES ME, the brand NEW single from LEE MATTHEWS, is OUT NOW, available on all platforms, and to request from radio.
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