Mateus Asato’s highly-anticipated debut album finally gets a release date
Mateus Asato’s long-awaited debut album, ASATO, finally has a release date: 27 February, 2026.
The Brazilian-born virtuoso has enjoyed a massive social media following for years, and ASATO marks his first full-length album of original songs.
READ MORE: “‘Single’ and happy where I am at this point”: Mateus Asato addresses rumours of him joining Fender following Suhr exit
Coinciding with the announcement, Asato has shared the first single from the album, HENDRIX, an instrumental song inspired by late guitar icon Jimi Hendrix.
“Everything started after a late night thought I had in my studio while trying to make another song for my debut album: ‘If Hendrix were alive today and we were friends… around the same age… how would he write an instrumental song?!’” Asato says.
“After that, I had a song in 20 minutes. Everything simply just came out and I felt like a vessel receiving melodies from above. A unique experience.
“But this thought only happened after reading two books of his biography. Being completely inspired by it – I had no choice but honor the greatest guitar hero in history in my opinion.”
“His passion & faith through music, his sense of feeling things. One of the things that captivated me the most about his books was the story that “he’d always use his broom while cleaning his house pretending it was a guitar when a solo was being played on the radio”. Jimi was an eternal dreamer. Jimi truly believed music had supernatural powers — and that’s why his legacy shall remain.
“This song might not relate much to Hendrix’s music in technical structure, and that is not my intention here. This is just a title of gratitude to the one who changed my perspective of playing the guitar.”
ASATO is an album rooted in the musician’s quest to show instrumental music isn’t “missing something” without lyrics. “Sometimes the point of a message is its own subjectivity,” he says. “Like an abstract painting with no description.”
It also marks the moment Asato finalises his transition from a six-string sidekick – working alongside the likes of Bruno Mars, Jessie J and Silk Sonic – to a fully-fledged solo artist.
Mateus Asato recently made waves when he announced he was parting ways with longtime guitar brand and collaborator Suhr Guitars. Fans quickly began to speculate as to whether he was about to partner with another brand, but for now, he says he’s “‘single’ and happy where I am”.
ASATO arrives 27 February. Learn more at mateusasato.com.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
