It may have been 20 years since we last heard music by award-winning recording artist Matthew ‘Matty J’ Ruys, but that wasn’t the last time he shared his musical talents and skills with us.

From writing and producing K’Lee’s infectious pop album which garnered 4 chart hits; or signing and executive producing Dei Hamo’s ride to the number 1 spot on the airwaves; or discovering and leading Brooke Fraser all the way to her 7 x platinum debut, Matthew has been behind more NZ music success stories than you might have imagined.

After spending a few years based in Singapore and curating Asia’s answer to SXSW, Matthew made the move to the US and set up shop in Santa Monica, where he reconnected with long-time friend and music collaborator Mark Tierney (Strawpeople). Together they set up a recording studio at the back of Matthew’s house and started casually playing around with a handful of musical ideas. Before they knew it, through collaboration, both Matthew and Mark found themselves working on what would become their respective solo albums.

Now, the first single from Matthew J. Ruys’ upcoming album finds him joined by good friend SPEECH from multi-Grammy-winning hip hop group Arrested Development.

‘People X People’ is an infectious, much-needed, feel-good call to love and understanding. Along with SPEECH, it features some of L.A.’s top gospel singers, and keyboards played by Matt ‘Honeybee’ Little (Bilal).

Matthew J. Ruys will release his new album, Things Broken, Things Awoken in 2019.

'People X People' is now available on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon and all good digital outlets.

Listen to ‘People X People’ here: