Matt Cardle Returns with New Album ‘The Great Escape’ and First Single ‘Drinking Dreams’

‘The Great Escape’ cements Matt’s longevity as a recording artist in a career that now spans over 15 years, with record sales in excess of 3 million. Matt Cardle’s stunning four-octave vocal range made him one of pop’s biggest British recording artists when he released his debut million-selling single ‘When We Collide’ in 2010, certified platinum and spending three weeks at number one.

This was followed by another big hit in the shape of the Gary Barlow-penned ‘Run for Your Life’ (#6). Since then, Matt has released four albums including Letters (#2, platinum) and The Fire (#8, silver). His top-ten 2013 smash hit ‘Loving You’, a duet with Spice Girl Melanie C, appeared on his third album Porcelain (#11). The Brit Award nominee has also forged a successful parallel career as an award-winning West End actor with leading roles in Memphis (2015) alongside Beverley Knight, Jesus Christ Superstar (2019), Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom (2018) and the touring production of & Juliet, playing the role of Shakespeare (2024).

Now the singer-songwriter draws on all his experiences, after a seven-year break, as he returns with his fifth long-player The Great Escape. This superb collection of 15 brand new songs is released on April 10th 2026. Matt launches the album by unveiling its first track, ‘Drinking Dreams’. Listen BELOW.

The Great Escape is a real return to form, stretching from infectious modern pop and soul to dynamic indie-rock balladeering. This confident new chapter for the multi-platinum recording artist showcases a refined sound that blends classic songwriting — alongside his soaring falsetto — with modern production.

Matt has written The Great Escape alongside long-term collaborators Jim Eliot (Ellie Goulding, Kylie), Michael Champion (CHAMPS, Wet Leg), Ben Cullum (Jamie Cullum, Gabrielle, Ferry Corsten), Tim Bran (London Grammar) and Dan McDougall (Sam Ryder, Liam Gallagher, Bruno Major). The album was produced by Dan McDougall, with one song co-produced and co-written by multiple Ivor Novello winner Eg White (Adele, Florence + The Machine). Recorded entirely in London, the album was mixed by Charlie Russell (Robbie Williams, Jamiroquai).

This confident, mature set of songs feels right at home alongside Matt’s biggest hits and is elevated further by its modern production, bringing alt-pop embellishments and string-soaked arrangements that allow Matt’s vocal talent to shine. Thematically, it explores universal emotions from the perspective of experience, moving between heartbreak, vulnerability, the power that comes with love, and optimism for the future.

Describing The Great Escape, Matt says:

“I took a long hiatus from releasing music, feeling the need to reconnect with a feeling inside that I had lost. The Great Escape is a body of work over a decade in the making.
I’ve drawn on years of highs & lows and love & loss — and at times needing to escape life & myself altogether. I’ve poured all that emotion into this album.”

The new song ‘Drinking Dreams’ introduces us to the newly rejuvenated Matt Cardle. In a sophisticated and hypnotic slow-burner, Matt says:

“It’s a story of two lovers taking a swim in the deep green sea of psychedelics, elevating them from reality to dreams and back again.”

Matt Cardle’s career has taken him from the highest-profile introduction possible — performing with Rihanna in front of a televised audience of 20 million — to soaring up the charts and achieving similar success on his own terms, duetting with a Spice Girl and collaborating with Trevor Horn, all while embarking on a successful theatre journey. Now, with The Great Escape, the time is right for his newfound creativity and confidence to reconnect with a broad mainstream audience. For Matt Cardle, the escape is his new future.

‘The Great Escape’ full tracklisting:

‘Nobody’s Jesus’
‘Fading Lights’
‘Stilettos’
‘Witness’ (CD/cassette/digital only)
‘Drinking Dreams’
‘You Take the Sun’
‘Blunt Steel’
‘Broken’ (CD/cassette/digital only)
‘The Great Escape’
‘Mirrorball’
‘Painkiller’
‘Rubble & Dust’
‘With You’ (CD/cassette/digital only)
‘Strong Enough’
‘Raining Diana’