You can call quirk-pop purveyor Hot Mud an optimist if you want; heck, on the right day, he’d probably agree with you. Just don’t dare suggest he’s naïve. On his new single, “The Best Life I’ve Ever Had,” the Ottawa singer/songwriter/visionary takes a hard look at his personal circumstances and decides his glass isn’t just half full—it’s a veritable Holy Grail, simply by dint of it being the only one he’s ever going to own. 

“Some days are terribly good,” sings the pensive Mr. Mud (real name: Muddy Matthew Watters), before quickly clarifying that others are “fantastically bad.” Ping-ponging from feeling “miserably happy” to “ecstatically sad” has him wondering for a moment if he might actually be losing his mind. Ultimately, though, he realizes that the perpetually bumpy ride of his existence is well worth it: After all, this is by definition the best life he’s ever had.

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/album/5jxPyd7GNew2BY2w1uEwoE?

That journey of self-realization is perfectly conveyed by the music, which comes clanging out of the gate as an infectious power-pop jangle but gives way to a moody breakdown that’s practically avant-garde as the lyric grows more introspective. And then the pace picks up again, riding the wave of the song’s uplifting conclusion to sunnier days ahead.

Its overall tone of clued-in whimsy makes “The Best Life I’ve Ever Had” the perfect closer to Hot Mud’s sophomore album, Pink Cloud Pop—a nine-song opus the very title of which denotes hopeful self-examination. The “pink cloud,” see, is a clinical term for the state of unbridled optimism recovering addicts typically feel at an early stage of their sobriety. That phenomenon is usually wholly transitory, so naming his second album after it is Hot Mud’s way of challenging destiny; of winkingly daring euphoria to beat the odds and hang around indefinitely.

Because recovery is indeed an integral part of this artist’s story. After years of battling with crippling addictions—he says it felt like an entire lifetime—he made the brave move of checking himself in for a transformative stay in rehab. Once he had his day-to-day situation under control, he moved to a secondary treatment facility, where he set about developing some brand-new skills as part of his nascent personal renewal. He learned the ins and outs of recording technology, so he could get his thoughts about the sobriety process down in musical form. And he learned to produce and host radio shows—which he started doing while he was still admitted, and which has proved invaluable in networking and promoting his music. (Check out Canada’s Cool Culture on Ottawa’s CKCU 93.1 FM.)

The most tangible and immediate result of all this activity was his first album, Rehab Rock, which offered a raw and unvarnished look at his days as an addict and his then-embryonic recovery. Indie O’clock called it “One of the best indie rock works we’ve heard in recent years,” and Turn & Work said “It’s the best thing to come out of Ottawa in a while.” The album was followed by a May 2024 EP, Electric Gutter Club, that acted as a palate cleanser for Pink Cloud Pop to introduce a whole new flavor in September.

Reflecting the immense progress its creator has made on the personal front, the new album sets itself apart with a positive perspective and a more cheerful sound than anything Hot Mud has released before. And in a true sign of artistic maturation, he’s widened his lyrical and thematic focus to the rest of us.

Through personal ruminations like “The Best Life I’ve Ever Had” and “Stranger in the Mirror,” he’s learned to embrace his eccentricities in a way that’s paradoxically made him feel more connected to society’s endless legion of outcasts. The winning “Long Live the Weird” and “Castaway Parade” are the proof, raising a glass to the misfits Hot Mud recognizes as kin on his never-ending journey to self-acceptance and renewal.

And of course, that glass is half-full. What else would you expect at this point? Learning to be a better him while deepening his appreciation of others means Hot Mud is living his best life indeed. And not just by default.

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