Matt Maltese has shared ‘Buses Replace Trains’, the latest single from his upcoming album Hers, due 16th May via The Orchard. The track arrives with news of a series of intimate instore shows in the UK and US, and a full world tour later this year.
The title comes from an offhand comment about band names, first suggested to a friend by their Welsh uncle. “There was something touching about the phrase ‘Buses Replace Trains’ out of context,” Maltese says. “It triggered, of course, the nostalgia of rail replacement buses in Reading growing up, but I also just couldn’t shake that it was a title for a love song. So plain and ordinary and quotidian.”
The track transforms that mundanity into something warm and weightless, lifted by strings and twinkling keys. “I know it’s not that simple, but it is,” he closes, with a shrug of romantic realism.
‘Buses Replace Trains’ follows a run of early singles, ‘Always Some MF’, ‘Anytime, Anyplace, Anyhow’ and ‘Pined For You My Whole Life’, that signal a shift toward more considered, reflective songwriting. Hers marks Maltese’s first fully self-produced album since 2019’s Krystal, and one shaped by the slow, sober processing of a long-term relationship’s end. “It’s a bit like having a year to write a really important email,” he notes.
Despite its introspection, the album keeps his signature wit intact. “I’m British enough to feel a slight shame of writing so many love songs in the past,” he admits. “Maybe the more interesting thing on paper would have been to go to the other side of the world and write a concept album about prehistoric creatures or something, but at the end of the day, we’re all human, and love and people are things we’re all continually affected by.”
A series of record store instores in London, Liverpool, Nottingham, Oxford and Brighton follow the album’s release, alongside earlier appearances in New York and LA. Maltese’s Tour For You My Whole Life kicks off in September, covering 46 dates across North America, the UK and Europe. The run includes his biggest UK headline show to date at London’s Roundhouse on 28th November.
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- Buses Replace Trains
- Hers
- Indie Pop
- Matt Maltese
- New Album 2025
- Roundhouse London
- Self-Produced Albums
- The Orchard
- Tour For You My Whole Life
- UK Instore Shows
