BUTCHIE debuts with 'Gaslight' and new video

BUTCHIE, the music project of artist and educator Matthew Waldman, has released the electro-pop single “Gaslight” and an accompanying video. The debut folds personal breakup fallout into a broader critique of gaslighting, while setting up a live show, a 2027 album and more new releases.

Why it matters: - BUTCHIE is entering music with a debut that connects personal experience to a wider cultural critique. - “Gaslight” positions the project as both autobiographical and political, widening its appeal beyond a standard first single. - The release also signals a broader rollout, including live dates and new recorded material.

What happened: - BUTCHIE released the new music video for “Gaslight,” the first electro-pop single from EVERPRESENCE. - The project is the music persona of Matthew Waldman, an artist, poet, designer and educator who has lived and worked between New York City and Tokyo. - Hip Video Promo is presenting the release.

The details: - Waldman took the name BUTCHIE from a childhood nickname and used the project to reconnect with creative instincts he had set aside for years. - Music was central in Waldman’s childhood, shaped by a singing mother and a father who played trombone and wanted to become a jazz musician. - Waldman moved through ’70s pop, experimental music, new wave and synth-pop, then started writing poetry and lyrics in high school. - He performed at East Village and Lower East Side open mics, sometimes with a first-generation Casiotone. - Waldman also appeared briefly as a backup singer and dancer with Tina Benet and the Benetz at Boybar. - Design became Waldman’s main career, but music continued in the background. - While living in Tokyo from 1986 to 1990, Waldman wrote and recorded four songs with Soichi Terada; those tapes are now lost. - Waldman later founded NOOKA, a fashion brand that appeared in museum shops around the world and was once worn by Prince. - Waldman returned to songwriting in 2024 while clearing out a New York City apartment as a relationship of more than 20 years ended. - Rediscovered poetry and lyrics revived work he had previously suppressed. - Producer Peter Cattermoul of Teleman began developing the archive with Waldman. - “Gaslight” began in September 2025, just after Waldman signed paperwork ending a 24-year relationship. - The song started as a response to being gaslit by someone Waldman loved. - The lyrics broaden the idea into blame-shifting, social control and political minutiae. - The repeated “gaslight carousel” image is meant to suggest motion without progress. - Lines including “Global gaslight generation” and “Nostalgia’s political masturbation” push the song from private pain into public commentary. - Cattermoul encouraged Waldman to release the track as a single after Waldman initially thought it was too strange for that role. - BUTCHIE’s sound draws from ’70s and ’80s electronic music and disco, with hyperpop and electroclash in the mix. - Kota Kawamura directed and CG-designed the video. - The video centers BUTCHIE while visual disruptions unfold around him. - The video was shot in real time in an LED-lined studio. - Spinning graphics, shifting walls of imagery and neon-heavy scenes keep the space in motion. - Ironic dancing in the video contrasts with the seriousness of the subject. - Waldman said gaslighting gets too little serious scrutiny in both personal and public life.

Between the lines: - The debut reads like an artist reclaiming a long-dormant identity rather than a routine first release. - The combination of intimate breakup material and broader social critique gives the project a more layered entry point. - The video’s visual instability reinforces the song’s theme of disorientation.

What’s next: - BUTCHIE is putting together a live show. - The project is recording 10 new songs for a 2027 album. - BUTCHIE plans to release a non-album cover of Sylvester’s “Stars” in October 2026. - More information is available at HIP Video Promo, the company website, and Instagram.

The bottom line: - BUTCHIE’s debut arrives as a personal reckoning, a political message and the start of a longer rollout.