Please Recorded and mixed in February/March 1993 in a house in
Van Nuys, California. Most of the songs were written while Nathanson was in high school and a freshman at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA. Before this, Nathanson had recorded only demos. This was his first collection of songs ever put on CD.
Please was released in the spring of 1993.
Ernst Recorded in
San Francisco in the winter of 1997. An entirely acoustic record, the instrumentation is mostly acoustic guitar with some accordion, cellos and percussion. This record was mixed at Toast Studios in San Francisco, by Jaquire King.
Not Colored Too Perfect This record is a compilation of unreleased material, the bulk of which was recorded in San Rafael, CA in the fall of 1997. Two other songs on this compilation, "You're Smiling" and "Wait Up" were recorded in Santa Barbara, CA in the summer of 1995. The final two songs, "Trace of a Cat's Eye" and "Vandalized" were taken from the unreleased record by Nathanson's college band Here Comes Everybody. The HCE album was recorded in Claremont, CA, in the spring of 1995 but was never released. Both these songs were written by the drummer in the band, Bill Foreman.
Still Waiting for Spring Recorded December 1998 in Cotati, CA. and January 1999 at
Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco, with Mark Weinberg. This record features David Immergluck & Charlie Gillingham of Counting Crows on tracks including the song "Loud", which was featured on the television show Dawson's Creek. The record was mixed at Different Fur in San Francisco and released spring of 1999.
When Everything Meant Everything Recorded in the Winter of 2002, at Trakworx in South San Francisco. An entire album of songs was recorded but the release was shortened to an EP when Nathanson signed to Universal Records halfway through the mixing process. Studio versions of "Princess" and "Fall to Pieces" appear only on this EP. It was produced by Mark Weinberg and Nathanson and released in the fall of 2002.
Beneath These Fireworks Recorded in Los Angeles in the winter of 2003, the team included drummer Matt Chamberlain, guitar player David Garza, and
Glen Phillips of the band
Toad The Wet Sprocket for background vocals. "Lucky Boy", from
Still Waiting for Spring was re-recorded for this record, as were most of the songs from the
When Everything Meant Everything EP/sessions. It was mixed by
Mark Endert in Los Angeles and released on October 14, 2003. "Suspended" and "I Saw" were released as singles, and more than half the record was licensed to television shows like
Scrubs,
Tarzan,
One Tree Hill,
Joan of Arcadia, and
Men in Trees.
At the Point Upon deciding that the major label world was not for him, Nathanson got out of his contract with Universal Records and released "At the Point." Recorded live over the course of 3 nights at The Point in Bryn Mawr, PA in June 2005, it was Nathanson's only live album until his 2020 release
Live in Paradise: Boston. This record was released in April 2006 and debuted at No. 29 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart the week of its release.
Some Mad Hope Some Mad Hope was recorded between August 2005 and March 2007 in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Cotati, CA. The album was made independently, and Nathanson partnered with Vanguard Records for its release in August 2007. It debuted at No. 60 on the Billboard Top 200 and was on the charts for 34 weeks. Various songs on the record were placed on television shows, including
CSI,
One Tree Hill,
Private Practice,
Melrose Place,
90210,
Vampire Diaries, and
American Idol. Singles included "Come On Get Higher" (peaked at No. 2 at Triple A, No. 9 at Hot AC, No. 3 at Mainstream AC and No. 19 at Pop), "Car Crash" (peaked at No. 12 at Triple A, and No. 29 at Hot AC), "Falling Apart" (peaked No. 29 at Hot AC), and "All We Are" (peaked at No. 26 at Triple A).
Some Mad Hope has sold over 300,000 copies, and "Come On Get Higher" went platinum, selling over 1.8 million in single sales.
Modern Love Nathanson's album
Modern Love was released on June 21, 2011. The first single, "Faster", was released in March. In addition to the second single with
Sugarland, "Run", the album's title track "Modern Love" reached the top 15 on the MusicBase Adult Album Alternative chart in September 2012 due to considerable airplay on AAA formatted radio stations. Nathanson was the opening act on select dates for
Kelly Clarkson's
Stronger Tour January 13, 2012 to April 10, 2012. In an interview with
Broken Records Magazine, Nathanson said
Modern Love was a "powerful record" and that he aimed to model its sound and production after his favorite 80's bands and songs.
Last of the Great Pretenders Nathanson's album
Last of the Great Pretenders was released in the U.S. on July 16, 2013. The first single, "Mission Bells", was released on March 11 on San Francisco's radio station KFOG. The album debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard Top 200. Nathanson announced his North American tour, Last of the Great Pretenders Tour, with special guest
Joshua Radin through his personal webpage. The tour kicked off in Portland, Oregon on September 20 and ended in Austin, Texas on November 23, with 45 dates total. In a statement to his fans, Nathanson said they should expect, "new songs, new stories, a white Bengal tiger and confetti cannons (ok, not the last two)." The next single to be released was "Kinks Shirt".
Show Me Your Fangs Nathanson's ninth studio album,
Show Me Your Fangs, was released in the U.S. on October 2, 2015. The first single, "Headphones", featuring
Lolo was released in June 2014. For the video, Nathanson joined
Starkey Hearing Technologies in Peru to help people with hearing loss. Following the release of "Headphones", Nathanson went on a two-month stateside co-headlining tour with his longtime friend
Gavin DeGraw. In May 2015, the next single "Gold in the Summertime", was released and Nathanson headed out on a nationwide tour with
Train and
The Fray. The tour kicked off on May 21 at Sleep Train Amphitheatre at Sacramento in Marysville CA, with shows throughout the U.S. The tour wrapped up on July 25 at Gorge Amphitheatre in Quincy, Wash. "Giants", the third single off the newest album, was released in August 2015. "Giants" was used as the theme song for the 2016 World Series of Poker on ESPN. The "Show Me Your Fangs Acoustic Tour - an evening with Matt Nathanson" kicked off September 21 at the Brighton Music Hall in Boston and ended in San Diego at the Casbah on October 30.
Pyromattia Matt Nathanson released an EP of
Def Leppard covers titled
Pyromattia in the U.S. on Friday, June 8, 2018. The title is a play on Def Leppard's 1983 album
Pyromania.
Pyromattia features songs from that album as well as 1981's ''
High 'N' Dry'', 1987's
Hysteria, and 1999's
Euphoria. In an interview with
Billboard, Nathanson said that Def Leppard singer
Joe Elliott liked the album, specifically commenting about his cover of "Stage Fright". In that same post, he also teased a forthcoming album of original material, but gave no details.
Sings His Sad Heart On October 5, 2018, Nathanson released his tenth studio album,
Sings His Sad Heart. Before the album's release, two songs were premiered on YouTube along with the album announcement: "Used to Be" and "Mine".
Postcards (from Chicago) Matt Nathanson released an EP, on July 26, 2019, as a digital download and a limited edition vinyl. It contains six new recordings. Two were collaborations, one with recording artist
Richard Marx, the other with
Patrick Stump.
Live in Paradise: Boston On July 24, 2020, Matt Nathanson released his second live album. The album contains 61 tracks with songs and stories taken primarily from Boston shows at the Paradise Rock Club on Nathanson's 2019 “song wheel” tour. The setlist for each show was different with audience members spinning a large wheel of songs on stage to randomly choose songs.
Boston Accent On July 29, 2022, Nathanson released his 12th studio album,
Boston Accent. Produced by Butch Walker, the album is "about being jealous of the cool kids who got to spend their summers on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. It's about how the hint of a Boston accent can make me drop my guard and feel connected to a complete stranger." Nathanson noted in an interview that he left his native Massachusetts at age 18 for California and "never looked back..." ==Discography==