Following the release of the ‘Ana’ single in 2023 – a track that took singer/multi-instrumentalist Matt Jatkola into hard edged power pop/Weezer-esque territory – all seemed to go rather quiet in the JATK camp. Over the previous couple of years, Matt had shared tracks fairly regularly, and even released an album ‘Shut Up and Be The Light’, but the relative silence from the beginning of 2024 might have led some people to believe that the JATK musical project was no more.

In some ways, the 2026 maxi single/EP release ‘Feel Today!’ marks a welcome return, since any new music from Matt has the potential to be a good thing. In other ways, it feels like an odd choice to kick-start a new phase, since the core of the track sounds far more abrasive than fans might expect. Casting aside the Weezer-isms of the previous release, and even some of his other melodic charms, Matt drops the listener into a world of mechanical rhythms and heavily distorted vocals. Bringing both elements together via a some unsubtle alt-rock guitars, things play out like a tribute to ‘Machina’ era Smashing Pumpkins coloured with Devo-ish keys, serving up a relative lack of melody in relation to some of Matt’s earlier work. It takes a little while to adjust – especially given the presence of a heavily treated and slurred vocal – but once you do, you’ll hear a melodic heart pulsing through the wall of guitars; something that sounds just a little more like you’d expect. Then, once you think you have this noisier track sussed, JATK pulls the metaphorical rug out from underneath his audience and settles into several bars of pure retro pop where harmony vocals, string sounds and an electric piano draw a bigger influence from David Myhr and Justin Kline. Oddly, when the original melody reappears, augmented by the strings and extra vocals, it seems far more like the JATK of old…so, maybe, despite being a little cluttered, this all makes perfect sense after all. [For those who find an instant love for this track’s melodic interlude, the digital download includes a recording of the isolated piano and strings, which is rather lovely.]

Joining the lead track comes a rather inspired cover. Given the noisier aspects of ‘Feel Today!’, the idea of JATK tackling Bowie’s ‘I’m Deranged’ (from ‘1.Outside’, but known to many due to its inclusion on the ‘Lost Highway’ soundtrack) feels like a perfect fit here. The recording’s mechanical elements hold a musical mirror up against Matt’s own composition; the fuzzy guitars share a parallel with a few of his own musical interests, and the sheer energy that comes through the recording almost sells itself. A more sedate vocal makes this feel different enough to the Bowie original to have merit, but it’s the use of various back-masked sounds to layer everything that really confirms this as a good work in its own right. JATK’s extant fans will be glad this exists, whilst the recording will give the Bowie obsessed something very interesting to explore – assuming the necessary word of mouth on the Bowie grapevine reaches the right ears.

This might take a little longer to appreciate than some of JATK’s previous works, but time spent will reveal something that makes a great addition to the catalogue. ‘Feel Today!’ might be more of a mood piece than expected, but this long overdue return for Matt Jatkola offers music that, once again, shows how some great sounds can be made even when working on a purely DIY level.

October 2026