Matt Stell Says New Song ‘Breakin’ in Boots’ Begins a New Era [Listen]

Get ready to really find out who Matt Stell is. The singer says his new song "Breakin' in Boots" represents the music he loves and the life he's lived.

"I know my way around a breakup, for sure," he tells Taste of Country.

• Matt Stell is known for a love song called "Prayed for You" and a breakup ballad called "Everywhere But On."
• He says his next album will explore what's led to breakups in his life.
• "Breakin' in Boots" was released as his next radio single on Monday (Dec. 11).

"I love heartbreak music," he adds, gushing over a lyric he wrote with Joe Fox, Ben Stennis and Nate Cyphert. "Especially that uptempo thing that country music does when you're getting heart broken aggressively. I love that."

Stell transitioned from Arista Nashville to Records Nashville and released a Top 40 song called "Man Made" in 2022. This new song is from an upcoming project that he describes as very personal. Breakups, he says, "make for good songs, but at some point you look around and wonder."

Talking to Taste of Country's Adison Haager ahead of the CMA Awards in Nashville, Stell described wondering if he's been responsible for more than his fair share of relationship endings. From there he began to look back at how he was raised. It was a good childhood, and he has fond memories of family, but ...

"My folks split up before I could remember. I was a baby and my mom and dad weren't together, and that's an experience that shaped how I see the world, even now."

"Family hurts to me and did for a long time, and I have a great family. A lot of pain came from there, especially being a kid, having to say goodbye that many times ... living in Florida and Arkansas and having a foot in both worlds."

For the new record, Stell pushed himself to share those emotions, believing that if it was worth writing, it was worth singing, and that people can relate to what he's been through.

"I'm kind of known for a love song, and I'm so proud of that song, but I feel like now — more so than ever — I'm getting to make the music that made me love country music, which is love and love lost."