Matt Maltese launches his own record label, Last Recordings On Earth

The label’s first release is the new single from Searows – the moniker of Kentucky-born, Oregon-raised musician Alec Duckart.

"Older" is the first track from his new EP, out later this year. It follows his debut album, Guard Dog, which was released independently and made a big splash on TikTok.

"I didn’t know what "Older" was about until I finished it, but in the end I think it's about getting older and feeling too young and too old at the same time, and trying not to feel powerless in both those feelings," says Duckart. "We feel powerless when we’re young, and also powerless when we start getting older and watching other people get older around us. Time never stops moving forward and its the best and worst thing about being alive.”

“I came across Searows on TikTok (of course) and it just stopped me in my tracks," says Maltese. "Firstly, it was Alec’s voice. It has a purity and vulnerability I felt so moved by.. it felt similar to how I felt when I first listened to Vashti Bunyan or Anthony and the Johnsons. A rawness that feels like you’re hearing their soul speak... I was in such admiration of his DIY move, making his first record himself on GarageBand and just putting it out there. It felt like a project that matched my ethos in many ways and I felt it should be treated with the utmost respect."

Last Recordings On Earth, helmed by Maltese, launches in association with Communion Records. with a vision to help artists to “co-exist and build sustainable careers together”.

“As an artist that has been signed, dropped and signed again, and made DIY albums when it was my only option, I feel like I’ve become so acutely aware how important just being able to continue making music was in it all. I had a few moments where I genuinely almost stopped, and I realise how so much of that was down to making realistic financial decisions," says Maltese

“I really believe that there is space for lots of artists to coexist and build sustainable careers together, and that the further we step away from a kind of ‘go big or go home’ mentality, the less destruction of artists’ careers there would be, and the more artists would be able to grow into the artist they’re meant to become.

“Starting a label is a chance to share this ethos and I feel very fortunate for that chance. I also think it’s no bad thing when artists work with artists, and that people on both sides of the line being able to empathise as much as possible with what the person they’re working with feels, is a good thing. Needless to say, I also get a lot from the mentoring aspect of it all and the possibility of building a community.”