Mathias Kom is a Canadian songwriter and academic. He releases most of his efforts as The Burning Hell. On occasion, Mathias goes on the road and records as a duo with clarinetist Ariel Sharratt. The Duo's debut album Don't Believe the Hyperreal (The Burning Hell Presents Ariel Sharratt & Mathias Kom) came out in November 2015. This nodded to the classic musical duets of the 1960s and showcased a more intimate side of their songwriting and performance, including the underground hit “Fuck The Government, I Love You. A sophomore duo album, out April 2020 through BB*ISLAND, is ”Never Work" It twists the sweetness and charm of duets into new shapes, moving away from romance to self-reflexively and sometimes caustically examine their own labour as musicians and the crumbling system of work and capital that continues to shape us all even as it abandons us. Accenting the acoustic elements of old-school folk revivals with electronic interference, Never Work takes cues from labour activists and Situationist pranksters to explore the gig economy, side-hustles, tech feudalism, class war, unionized digital assistants, rebellious self-service checkout machines, and fully automated luxury communism. Some are songs about workers, some are songs for workers, but most are both at once. Simultaneously earnest and wry, the songs on Never Work are a protest playlist for our collective journey towards oblivion or the beach.
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Mathias Kom plays witty, narrative-driven anti-folk and alternative folk music, often exploring sociopolitical themes through acoustic arrangements and subtle electronic elements. Follow Mathias Kom on Mood.
Mathias Kom frequently records and performs with multi-instrumentalist Ariel Sharratt as a duo, alongside their work in the Canadian indie band The Burning Hell.
Mathias Kom was born in Woodstock, Ontario, and spent his childhood and adolescence in Winnipeg and Kingston, Canada.
