Kevin Bronson on June 27th, 2018

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Matt Maeson is a Virginia-bred singer-songwriter who is the son of ministering musicians, performed in a family band that played prisons and biker rallies, worked construction jobs, spent some time behind bars himself and, among other exploits of this ramblin’ man, once played an open mic at a Chick-fil-A. There are bumps and bruises — not to mention some fire and brimstone — in the two EPs he has released, 2017’s “Who Killed Matt Maeson?” and this April’s “The Hearse.” His compelling stories of toil and trouble bubble with the same kind of musical flourishes — “stadium gospel,” we’ll call it — that made Bishiop Briggs a hot item. In fact, he toured with her earlier this year.

The video for “The Hearse” stars the titular vehicle, but it’s the ride that’s spellbinding. “I am the shadow driving the hearse,” he proclaims over pile-driving beats in the song, and in the video Maeson is the passenger, too. The overriding theme of Maeson’s sophomore EP is that the songwriter is still wrestling to get shut of the past. His is obviously dark. And when you’re trying to bury that certain version of yourself, it’s OK to attend your own funeral.

The release of “The Hearse” completes a video trilogy. Says Maeson: “I wanted these three videos to have a cohesive narrative that is basically an argument between a self-destructive, reckless version of myself and a moral, ‘good boy’ version of myself, and how the two collide.”

||| Watch: The video for “The Hearse”

||| Also: Watch the video for “Put It on Me” and “Hallucinogenics”