Rising alt-pop band Belle Mt. unveils more cinematic beauty with their Warner Records debut EP, ‘The Water,’ out now. On the four-song set, the London-based trio—fronted by singer/songwriter/guitarist Matt Belmont— lyrically channels both the unrelenting chaos and comforting quiet that comes when relationships break down. Click here to stream ‘The Water.’
“I can’t find love. Did it run out?” Belmont asks at the onset of the sweeping first track “This Kind of Heavy.” The song was a creation of much-needed catharsis—Belmont wrote it after suffering the loss of a friend—and his bandmates, including drummer Chris Burgess and guitarist Ben Worsley, help lift it from a sparse piano ballad to a multi-layered, emotional pop crescendo.
Throughout the EP, Belle Mt. floats between soft and soaring. “All We Are” locks into a sunnier groove, but its lyrics remain heavy: “If this is all we are, a collection of mistakes and homegrown scars,” Belmont sings, rising into a soothing falsetto. The band flexes its musical muscle with pronounced percussion and lush instrumentation on the upbeat and particularly buoyant “Cannonball,” before plunging into the poignant title track, which builds around rippling synth and Belmont’s inherently warm vocals—an instrument that carries a potent mix of humility, vulnerability, and triumph.
‘The Water’ EP finds Belle Mt. expanding on a sound they’ve been refining since 2017, when the trio released an acoustic version of the single “Hollow” on their independent debut ‘Volume I‘ EP. In the years since, the track took on a life of its own, earning critical acclaim, spots on beloved playlists like Spotify’s “New Music Friday,” and tens of millions of streams. This year, Belle Mt. signed with Warner Records and released a new version of “Hollow,” which Belmont described as an exploration of “love, loss, rebirth, and everything in between”—which doubles as an apt summary of ‘The Water’s ambitions.
As Matt Belmont explains, Belle Mt. (pronounced bell-mont) is “an ever-evolving concept that can take on many forms.” At times, it can manifest as Belmont performing his most intimate songs solo, accompanied by sparse guitar or keys. In its current incarnation, Belle Mt. mostly performs as a trio, with a poignant alt-pop sound filled out by long-term collaborators Chris Burgess on drums/percussion and Ben Worsley on guitar, bass, and backing vocals. The band first emerged in late 2017 with their debut EP ‘Volume I,’ captivating audiences worldwide with Matt Belmont’s emotive songwriting and heartfelt vocals. While their first single “Hollow (Acoustic)” claimed real estate on coveted playlists such as Spotify’s “New Music Friday,” the group performed at SXSW, British Summertime in Hyde Park, Eurosonic, and on the road with KALEO. After amassing multiple millions of streams globally, Belle Mt. inked a contract with Warner Records in 2020. More music to follow soon.
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Photo Credits: Sara Lincoln
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