If you’ve been keeping tabs on The Undercover Dream Lovers, you know Matt Koenig has a knack for bending nostalgia into something hypnotically modern. And now, the Los Angeles-based musician and producer is gearing up to release his upcoming album (and what appears to be an alt-rock playground) Atomic House on March 20 via SoundOn.
The 14-track collection grew out of a gift: “The inspiration for Atomic House really started when I was gifted a Gibson SG,” Koenig says. "I’ve typically leaned more into synth-driven music, but having that guitar right next to my desk shifted something. It pulled me toward more guitar-forward, alt, late ’90s and early 2000s-inspired sounds and naturally changed my production style.”
The album isn’t just a genre experiment, it’s deeply personal. Koenig draws on his childhood in Pennsylvania, teen years immersed in music and DIY culture, and life in contemporary Los Angeles. “A lot of the record draws from growing up in the suburbs in a big family and the music and culture I absorbed as a teenager and into my early twenties. It felt like tapping into a huge well of memories—almost like a playground of nostalgia—and using that time period as a creative foundation,” he explains.
Creating the album wasn’t without its challenges. "Writing this one was physically and mentally full-on… it’s never easy to make a full record, especially one that changes direction this much," Koenig admits. But the payoff is worth it: Atomic House is immersive, transportive, and tactile in a way that makes you feel like the protagonist in Koenig’s world.
As for actually making the project, "A lot of it started with the gear shift into guitar, but I also spent time in Joshua Tree with my close friend and collaborator Zhone, which helped shape the direction. Alex LaLiberte constantly pushes me on lyricism and structure, so I’m always revisiting arrangements and trying to elevate the writing. I upgraded my Universal Audio interfaces to keep the studio fully plugged in and ready at all times, which helped create a more hi-fi, immersive feel. I leaned heavily on the JX-3P and some of the Super 6. I loved using Soundpaint’s disco strings with that portamento glide. New gear always opens creative doors," he says. And the result is an album that’s at once polished, hi-fi, and yet utterly human.
Tracks like "One More Evening”—"wild and kind of bizarre structurally, but I love every part of it”—and "You,” with its Strokes-adjacent melody, hint at the range listeners can expect. But the record’s overarching theme ties everything together. "The title plays on the idea of the nuclear family and the atomic household," Koenig says. There’s this theme of destruction and rebuilding—letting go of an old Dream Lovers mindset and breaking into something new. The ‘house’ represents memory, nostalgia, and home, which is very important to me personally. I’m intentional about where and how I live, and that same intentionality applies to this record. It’s about revisiting old eras and feelings, but expressing them in a transformed way."
Looking ahead, Koenig and The Undercover Dream Lovers plan to tour with Bad Suns, headline select dates, and eventually hit a full U.S. tour this summer or fall. And beyond live shows? “Just keeping it moving—writing, collaborating, remixing,” he says.
Keep an eye out for Atomic House, out March 20.
Photos by Matt Sklar, Jacob Cummings
