As a member of beloved Atlanta acts the Selmanaires and Noot d’ Noot (among countless other projects), Mathis Hunter has earned a reputation as a dynamic, genre-bending songwriter. Throughout his nearly 30-year career, he’s channeled everything from classic rock and funk to outsider pop and shoegaze, always with a keen ear for melodies and hooks that lean towards the mystical. His latest single, which we’re excited to premiere today, is rooted in the cosmic grooves that made Noot d’ Noot local mainstays for so many years. It’s a lush and rapturous jam that glides as much as it swings.

Animated by Scotty Iuliannelli of Analog Prints, the accompanying video is a mind-bending journey through mutating illustrations, smiling sheep, and experiments in DNA replication. Much like the song, it’s easy to get lost within its warm vibrations and hypnotic swirl. But if you take a moment to focus beyond the mesmerizing movement, you’ll find darkness and pain bubbling beneath the surface.

According to Mathis, much of his upcoming full-length Mood Lighting was written as he was going through a divorce. As such, the album marks some of his most deeply personal songwriting as he documents the manic intensity of his dissolving marriage and a life reeling from emotional turmoil. As the record’s lead track, “Clone It Off” is meant to signify the start of this turbulent transition when glimmers of hope still flicker and burn.

“Musically, I think the album also skews away from my last few classic rock inspired records and maybe ties back to my first album Soft Opening with some more ’90s shoegaze influences,” Mathis says. “Overall, there’s a sound of heavy sedation as evident in the music as the lyrics, I think. The single is probably the brightest moment on the album.”

Watch/listen above.

“Clone It Off” is the first single from Mathis’ forthcoming LP Mood Lighting. It is available for download and streaming on Bandcamp along with two additional tracks that will not appear on the album.

Meanwhile, Mood Lighting will be out May 15 as a split release via Hunter’s label Ley Lines and Chunklet Industries. A release show at the EARL is currently scheduled for Thurs., May 21 with Dot.s and Newberry Jam. In all likelihood, the show will be pushed to sometime this summer.

More Info
Web: mathishunter.com
Bandcamp: mathishunter.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @mathishunter
Instagram: @mathis_hunter
SoundCloud: @mathishunter
Twitter: @mathishunter77