Guitar.com cover star Mateus Asato releases his first official single Cryin’: “It’s been 10 years of identity crises about who I am in terms of music”
After years of viral Instagram performances and touring with pop superstars like Bruno Mars, Tori Kelly, and Jessie J, Mateus Asato has released his first official single, Cryin’, marking the start of his solo journey.
Despite millions of followers and years in the sideman spotlight, the Brazilian guitarist had yet to release a solo track – until now. Cryin’ arrives ahead of his forthcoming debut album, set for early 2026.
READ MORE: “I realised if the drums and the bass are not right, even if my guitar is right, it’s gonna suck!”: Mateus Asato on the difference between session work and making his own album
“It’s been 10 years of a lot of doubts and questions… and some identity crises about who I am in terms of music,” Asato says of his journey in the May/June issue of Guitar magazine. “The album is definitely a journey through all the sides of Mateus. The Mateus who’s a sideman, Mateus as the Instagram boy, and then the Mateus that got more mature over the years. Who developed a different vision regarding music, regarding how I see guitar.”
The song itself was a long time in the making. Asato began drafting Cryin’ in February 2020, during a period of global uncertainty, and finally completed it four years later, in February 2024, just a week before his wedding.
“Cryin’ is my emotional celebration of life — the first act of being human and the sound of joy, fear, and love all at once,” he says. “It’s a reminder that life is full of emotions, vulnerability, and movement, and you’re free to feel it your own way.”
Looking back on his career now, Asato admits that making the leap from stable pop gigs to solo artistry wasn’t easy.
“Trading the stability and the status of playing for a pop star to start walking on my own steps was a very tough decision, and that takes time,” he tells Guitar World. “I was able to give myself a proper season of rest. [It] cleared the path for me to start this first season of my solo career with a very great feeling.”
Listen to Cryin’ below.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
