FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

NEW MATT ELLIS SINGLE, “Watching You,” OUT 06/12/26

MATT ELLIS RETURNS WITH NEW SINGLE “WATCHING YOU,” OUT JUNE 12

US-based Australian singer-songwriter Matt Ellis will release “Watching You” on June 12, the second single from his forthcoming seventh studio album.

Recorded in California’s Hi-Desert and co-produced with Nicolas Vernhes, “Watching You” finds Ellis stepping into new territory, trading his acoustic for a Telecaster and delivering one of the most provocative and sonically adventurous tracks of his career.

The recording features an impressive ensemble of collaborators, including acclaimed Canadian songwriter and guitarist Michael Rault on lead guitar, Dustin Bookatz on bass, Denny Weston Jr. on drums, and Joshua Norton on Wurlitzer. A cast of friends and Matt’s wife, Vavine, join to perform the song’s hypnotic gang vocals, with South African singer-songwriter Karma (Henry Ate) adding a soaring, emotionally charged performance in the outro.

Opening with the stark line, “Live tonight, world’s on fire,” the track unfolds over a hypnotic groove that blurs the lines between rock, reggae, and blues. Imagine The Expensive Winos colliding with Lou Reed somewhere deep in the Mojave Desert, and you begin to understand the atmosphere Ellis conjures here. Rault’s blues-soaked guitar work threads through the arrangement with understated swagger, while Bookatz’s slinky fretless bass lines snake through verse and chorus, shifting and lifting the mood in all the right places. 

Despite its layered textures, the production remains deliberately sparse and spacious. A primitive hip-hop shuffle anchors the track alongside unconventional percussion played on a coyote melon found on Ellis’ Hi-Desert property, lending the recording an organic and tribal tension. The verses are punctuated by deadpan, mantra-like group responses: “They’ll keep watching you / No matter what you do…” The repeated refrain feels less like a chorus than a collective warning. A meditation on surveillance culture, technological dependence, and the increasingly blurred line between observer and participant.

Ellis recalls:
“I had that main riff for a while, but it didn’t really make sense until I started jamming to a simple drum loop. I had the vocal melody but no lyrics, so I started improvising takes just to get a sketch down. After a few passes, the song revealed itself quickly. That rough demo became the blueprint for everything we rebuilt later in the studio with the band.”

Produced by Matt Ellis and Nicolas Vernhes, mixed by Vernhes, and mastered by J.J. Golden, “Watching You” delivers a taut, three-minute meditation on modern anxiety, where 24-hour news cycles, digital tracking, artificial intelligence, and corporate surveillance have reshaped the psychological landscape of everyday life.

At a moment when global attention remains fixed on an increasingly fractured America, “Watching You” asks a timely and uncomfortable question: in an age of constant observation, who’s watching who?

“Watching You” will be released independently on June 12, 2026, and will be available on all major streaming platforms.

Follow Matt Ellis on Instagram for updates on the forthcoming album.

LYRICS

“Watching You”
By Matt Ellis

Live tonight, world’s on fire
Tell me what you want to believe

Hypnotized, light so bright
What color do you want me to bleed

World’s alive, with bloodshot eyes
Won’t ya tell me, what’s in it for me 

They’ll keep watching you
No matter what you do
It’s true
They’ll keep watching you
Make you choose
They’ll keep watching you

You know they’re watching
Hear every sound
To get a piece of you

They’ll keep watching you
No matter what you do
It’s true
They’ll keep watching you
Make you choose
And sell it back to you

It’s true
They’ll keep watching you
Make you choose
No matter what you do
It’s true
They’ll keep watching you

CREDITS

“Watching You”
Written by Matt Ellis

Matt Ellis: Vocals, Electric Guitar, Keys, Percussion

Michael Rault: Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals

Dustin Bookatz: Bass

Denny Weston Jr.: Drums

Joshua Norton: Wurlitzer, Backing Vocals

Karma: Backing Vocals

Vavine Tahapehi: Backing Vocals

Pearl Charles: Backing Vocals

Produced by Matt Ellis & Nicolas Vernhes
Mixed by Nicolas Vernhes
Mastered by J.J. Golden