360 on his triumphant return to music
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360 on his triumphant return to music

Almost six years to the day since revolutionising Australian hip-hop with the multi-platinum Falling & Flying, 360 (aka Matthew James Colwell) announced the release of his fourth studio album, Vintage Modern late last year.
The album, which debuted at #1 on the ARIA Australian Album Charts and #3 on the ARIA Albums Chart in October and garnered a slew of enthusiastic reviews around the country, tells a tale of heartbreak, fallouts and drug addiction. It’s Colwell’s approach to the album however that is most inspiring, as he unravels—with incredible irreverence—overcoming addiction and understanding mental health, while tackling social issues like misogyny and Islamophobia.
“When I write, I usually write from personal experience, and in this album, I didn’t really want to not do that,” he explains. “I’ve done that on every album and virtually every song is about myself and something that I’ve gone through. I wanted to switch it up on this album, so some songs are a bit of social commentary, and some of it is putting myself in another person’s shoes and writing it from another perspective other than my own.
“Originally I was thinking of writing a whole album from other peoples perspectives about certain topics, but it ended up just coming out a lot more naturally and some of the stuff had to be personal.”
Writing the bulk of the album as acoustic pieces first, then teaming up with a tight-knit production crew – long-time collaborator Styalz Fuego, executive producer Nic Martin and chief instrumentalist Carl Dimataga – the album pairs 60’s trademark charm, honesty and razor sharp raps with a lush sonic backbone of guitars and live instrumentation fused with contemporary rap sounds, replacing the heavy synths and electronic drops his music is traditionally known for. Clearly taking on new challenges and directions with his sound, as well as marking three years since his last release, Colwell describes Vintage Modern as a new beginning.
“It was definitely a new thing. I’d spent so much time away, it really felt like I was just starting out again to be honest; it was strange,” he says. “I’ve been at it for so long, yet I felt like I was coming out with my first release which is really kind of weird… but that’s how it felt.”
Featuring collaborations from Perth singer/songwriter Sydnee Carter, long-time friends PEZ and Seth Sentry and Sydney singer/songwriter Hein Cooper, among others, Vintage Modern sees the re-invigorated artist holding nothing back on the topical and unfiltered album. ‘Yesterday’ tells the tale about taking the higher ground, his track ‘Dem Gainz’ pokes fun at gym-bro culture, ‘Money’ sees Colwell weaving in and out of personal tales about his triumphant rise and rapid fall, and the financial consequences and lessons learnt; and then there’s ‘Drugs’, a clear favourite from Vintage Modern, is a clever, cautionary tale written from the perspective of alcohol as if it were a hitman, a metaphor for the impact drugs and alcohol have on society.
It’s the powerful song ‘Tiny Angel’ that truly reveals 360’s maturity and his role in communicating important messages through music. Inspired by the stillbirth of a close friend’s child, ‘Tiny Angel’ breaks down the stigma around stillbirth and presents a male perspective on an issue that takes the lives of six children every single day in Australia.
“That was a song was the one that took the longest, most definitely,” he explains. “Because it was something I hadn’t gone through, and I really knew nothing about the whole process of what would happen in that kind of situation; even just pregnancy in general. I had to do a lot of research and talk to a lot of midwives about it, and find out the actual specifics of what actually happens in those situations.
With the approval of his close friend, 360 tackled the often taboo topic, using his voice to raise the profile of stillbirth in Australia. “It’s really full on,” he explains of ‘Tiny Angel’. “Recording it was the hard part. I think I recorded about 20 times before I actually got; I was recording it and then listening back and it was like I was telling the story but it wasn’t emotional enough, it wasn’t the right emotion,” he continues. “I had to get it; if I was going to be in that situation, how would I sound? So I went in and really tried to capture that emotion. And that’s when it happened. It was really really intense, and was really full on.
“I only did one take, which is the version that you’ve heard on the album. There might be a few little minor things in there that aren’t right, or that I didn’t mean to do flow wise, but the real emotional is there.”


Following an epic sold-out national tour earlier this year, Colwell is taking these inspired tracks to towns all over regional Victoria, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland before concluding in Tasmania, further marking his triumphant return to the spotlight.
“It was really touching,” he explains of his previous tour. “I had my doubts and I really didn’t know what to expect; that’s sort of part of the reason I felt like I was just coming out. I had no idea how the reception of these shows was going to go down because in the past, all my songs have had at least one or two songs on high rotation or on major radio, but with this album, none had at all.
“I was going in really hoping that people weren’t just coming to hear my old stuff,” he continues. “Coming out, it was mind-blowing to have people singing along to the new album, and rapping every word. It was really cool, I was super inspired by that. I felt like I was back, I was definitely back.”
With already sold-out shows in Ballarat and Bendigo, which saw second shows been added, there’s clearly a high demand to see the most charismatic Australian rapper in the game.
One things for sure; 360 is back and better than ever.
When & Where: Karova Lounge, Ballarat – August 22 & October 4; Taphouse, Bendigo – August 23 & October 12; The Wool Exchange, Geelong – August 24.