Matisyahu Talks ‘Hold The Fire’ EP and New Tour (Exclusive)

Matisyahu has been at the forefront of genre-bending — and blending — hip-hop, reggae, and pop for two decades, and now he’s back with a new EP and tour. Dubbed Hold The Fire, the new collection of songs showcases a reinvigorated Matisyahu delivering sway-inducing music and soul-soothing lyrical poetry. In support of the new project, Matisyahu has embarked on an extensive U.S. tour, which makes a stop in St. Petersburg, Florida on Friday night, and will culminate in a show at Brooklyn Steel in New York City on March 23.

The Hold The Fire EP features five new tracks, one of which is “End of the World,” an ethereal song that is less about an apocalyptic perspective and more about a destination. Or at least, that’s how it began. “It’s interesting because that song was written before October 7th, and the lyrics… they more refer to not the time period of the end of the world, but to a place at the end of the world, someplace that you go,” Matisyahu told us, referring to the Israel-Hamas war hostage crisis wherein 250 Israeli citizens were kidnapped by the terrorist organization. “Then after October 7th, and I’m seeing ‘New Song out by Matisyahu,’ and then I’m looking at my Instagram clips, and it’s all me in Israel, right? 50 feet away from Gaza, 100 feet from Gaza, performing for the soldiers and stuff. And at ‘End of the World,’ it feels like that is the place that is the end of the world right there.”

We also asked about another new track on the EP, “Love Supplier,’ which is no doubt going to be making it on many spring and summer playlists. “I worked with a producer on that song named Ben Antelis, nice guy from my neighborhood,” Matisyahu shared. “We hooked up, and I think we wrote the music to that together and it was just a love song. It’s like a love song to my wife. That’s exactly what it is. It’s about, I guess, just being with each other and just enjoying the time together.”

Opening up about how he goes working on a song, Matisyahu explained, “I have a process, and sometimes part of my process is just free association and not really trying to write a song per se, but just kind of write a rap. Then I find that ideas will come to me.” He then revealed, “For example, I have a song that’s not on the EP, but it’s the next song I’m releasing after called Descent, song about antisemitism.”

Matisyahu continued, “I just heard the beat. Someone played me the beat and I loved it. Started writing. Wasn’t planning to write a song about antisemitism or any of that, and just from the first lyric that came out, so that was it. This song is very clearly about that. So sometimes I’ll just try to not prepare too much ideas and then other times it’s very specific. I’ll have a specific idea that I’m working on or that I’m trying to develop.”

Finally, Matisyahu shared about what fans can expect from his new tour. “I’ve never made one set list for a whole tour or even for two shows in a row,” he revealed. “I’ll try to have a little bit of everything on there. So I’ll try to have probably two or three of the new songs, try to have a song from each album, at least a song off of Akeda, song off Spark Seeker, or something off of Undercurrent. Just like maybe a ‘Love Born’ or a ‘Shade from the Sun.’ Some of the singles I put out. A couple of classics and then the songs like ‘King Without a Crown,’ and ‘One Day,’ and ‘Sunshine.’”

“Improvising is still something that I really enjoy and love to do,” he added. “So I always would try to, if a moment comes that’s kind of feels like it’s right, then we’ll just open it up and we’ll kind of see what happens with the rest of the set list.” 

Click here to find Hold The Fire on your preferred streaming service. Matisyahu’s 34-date headlining tour runs from January 31st through March 23rd, where it will wrap in Brooklyn, NY, as previously noted. Click here for all dates and details. Notably, one dollar of every ticket sale will be donated to the Last Prisoner Project, a nonprofit dedicated to cannabis criminal justice reform and releasing every nonviolent cannabis prisoner.