When you're lonely, then you phone me

This is a somewhat desperate plea: in this picture, we have a happy Matt Willis. We want Matt to look like this more often, yes? As opposed to this. Or this. So (and given his past chart placings, which should be seen as respectable but probably won't be), the more people who buy his new single, "Don't Let It Go To Waste," the better. Now, I know it's got nothing on "Up All Night" (excellent!) or "Hey Kid" (very good), but it is still a nice song, and it comes from a great album. Buying this song means: 1.) Matt is less likely to be dropped and thus less likely to stop making brilliant music, and 2.) maybe he can release one of the much better songs off his album next (unlikely that he'll get another single release, I know, but even getting to release 4 singles would be a good sign). Oh, and 3.) seeing his name in the charts might get people to go buy the album. Here, as just a small indication of how good the album is, is one of the songs from it.

Ex-Girlfriend--it was such a tough choice between this and "Get Bored" (formerly known as "Smashing Kelly," I think), as both are brilliant, catchy, uptempo songs. Ultimately, though, this one just barely got the edge, possibly because it is just so fun to yell out "You're a *#@*ing lunatic!" with Matt in the lead up to the first chorus. Plus, as pointed out elsewhere, how can you not love a song with the line "now you've stolen all of my CDs/But baby that's OK/'cause I got them all on mp3's/and I didn't have to pay!" (with more Matt shoutiness that's not scream-shouty). The bridge and the chorus are just ridiculously catchy pop-rock of the kind that demands to be sung along with.

To buy Matt Willis's debut album Don't Let It Go To Waste, go here (physical) and here (digital). However, possibly more important in the short run, you can buy his single, "Don't Let It Go To Waste," here (physical) or here (digital). You can buy either the physical or digital versions regardless of where you live and, though the digital version is a protected WMA file, as 7Digital itself points out, you can burn it to a CD and then rip it off the CD to convert it to an mp3 that you can play on anything.

There are two versions of the single; if you're trying to decide which one to get, I'd probably recommend the one with the B-side "What's The Point," which, though sad, is strangely addictive. The line in the chorus about cigarettes (I think you need to hear it in context, but it's "Tell me that you're staying over/Tell me you've got cigarettes") seems a bit strange--isn't that basically saying "I'm so glad you're back, baby! ...but, uh, you brought the cigarettes, right?" That's an exaggeration, but it does seem to take away from the romance. Then again (and stick with me as I work this out for myself), I think this song is supposed to feel real, and it's the little details like that that take it beyond a typical boy band ballad. This isn't some pure, puppy-love plea--it's depressed desperation, from a real person, for someone--not a perfect person, but the person that matters most to them--to stay with them. Matt's delivery is perfect for a ballad from this standpoint, and it's not something everyone could do. I love the line about problems--there's no emphasis on it, and you might not notice it, but instead of "everybody's got their problems, I've got mine and you've got yours," Matt sings, "I've got yours and you've got mine." The parallelism is great, too: "What's the point in staying angry/Just stay here tonight." The high-pitched, faint, echoey I-don't-know-what's-producing-those-effects (what you hear as the song fades out) are perfect too, giving the song a cyclical feeling and a slow energy--just enough energy that it makes you notice the lack of energy from the narrator (Matt), whose pleas often have a tinge of hopelessness and desperation to them. "What's The Point" is the sort of song you might put in a playlist with Will Young's "Who Am I"...and yet, there's something comforting about it.

So, yes, in short: please consider buying Matt's new single, "Don't Let It Go To Waste" (which comes with a great B-side), which you can get here, regardless of the country you live in. He needs all the help he can get.

Next up: something far less preachy, I promise; probably Jesse McCartney.