Norway’s @Matomaofficial is back with two slices of melodic dance music, “Never Surrender” (with @SteveKodaline) and “Beautiful Wave” (with Aaron Smith)

MATOMA and STEVE GARRIGAN, “Never Surrender”

MATOMA and AARON SMITH, “Beautiful Wave”

With Norway’s Matoma now releasing his music independently, he’s back to recording songs that are in the vein of what attracted me to his music back more than five years ago.  After some successful coaching on Norway’s edition of “The Voice” this year, he kickstarted the new music with the recent “Summer Feeling”, and has quickly followed it up with two more singles in anticipation of a new album. “Never Surrender” (above) is a bold and powerful winner that is my favourite out of the three. The commanding vocal is by Steve Galligan of Irish group Kodaline, bringing a different dimension to Matoma’s music. It’s simple and uplifting and everything you need in a dance anthem to make you want to cheer when you hear it in a club.  “Beautiful Wave” (below) tells perhaps a story a little too similar to many songs that have been released in the past year, but Matoma’s production is seamless and the song’s anchor is Scottish singer Aaron Smith’s gorgeous tone, which wrings every bit of emotion out of the lyrics.  So I’ll be looking forward to Matoma’s album when it drops and his next tour to hear it all performed in concert.