San Francisco-based Matt Nathanson followed the chart-topping success of 2007’s Some Mad Hope with Modern Love. The Massachusetts-born musician is writing a new musical chapter, saying, “This record feels like a beginning. I had done the singer/songwriter thing (8 albums of it!). I didn’t want to be defined by only that.” Over three years removed from the high praise he received for his huge hit “Come On Get Higher” (2 million sold), Nathanson’s Modern Love is producing a new batch of modern gems, including the latest “Run” featuring country crossover superstars Sugarland.

Flashback-Fast Forward: Matt Nathanson makes no secret about Modern Love being influenced by the songs and albums that inspired him. “The production is inspired by the futuristic throw of those 80s records I love, and how they made me feel,” he confesses. “Tears for Fears Songs from the Big Chair, INXS Kick, David Bowie Let’s Dance. At the time those records didn’t sound current. They sounded like what was going to be.” Watch the video for the album opener “Faster” and flash back to George Michael’s MTV staple “Faith.”

Despite Nathanson’s stated desire not to be “defined” by the “singer/songwriter thing,” he can’t help but be a singer and songwriter keenly aware of what works on the radio (and in these modern times, on countless television shows as well). Modern Love is stocked with songs that were the soundtrack to the summer of 2011 – and beyond. As he explains, the album is “a collection of songs, short stories, tied together, people’s stories about love, about faith in others, or loss of faith in others…the struggle to actually love and find love and accept love when someone is actually giving it to you.”

In other words, Modern Love is about modern life and modern families, which in many ways, are no different today than they were since the dawn of time. A nod to David Bowie’s 1983 hit aside, Nathanson says the album title is about “opposing ideas banging against each other. Modern vs. love; cold vs. hot; hard vs. soft; fabricated vs. organic. How do they exist together.” Tunes like “Love Comes Tumbling Down,” “Kiss Quick,” “Mercy,” “Kept,” “Queen of (K)nots,” and the title track attempt to provide a blueprint for navigating through the maze that is the complexity of life.

According to Nathanson, one of the coolest benefits of having a smash hit like Some Mad Hope was “being able to rub shoulders with my heroes…to befriend people who inspire me to reach further.” Two of those folks are Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, both of whom appear on the current smash song “Run.” With new friends in high places (he’s currently opening shows for Kelly Clarkson and juggling headlining dates as well), Matt Nathanson is brimming with confidence that he can match the heights reached by “Come On Get Higher.” He got off to a fast start with the first single “Faster” and there are plenty more chart toppers where that came from.

Running Up The Charts: Watch this riveting live version of “Run” featuring Sugarland:

As A Matter of Fact…

* Matt Nathanson was born on March 28, 1973 in Lexington, MA, and in the early 90s relocated from Boston to San Francisco.

* Nathanson’s songs have been featured on numerous television shows and movies, including NCIS, Private Practice, One Tree Hill, Scrubs, The Vampire Diaries, and 90210.

* Released on Vanguard Records, 2007’s Some Mad Hope remained on the Billboard 200 albums sales chart for 34 weeks.

* Matt Nathanson’s current All Night Noise U.S. tour continues through April 6 in Anaheim, CA In between his own headlining dates, he’s opening for Kelly Clarkson on her Stronger tour, which wraps April 10 in San Diego.