Echoes of the Past: Tiny Habits and Matty Healy Explore Heartbreak in “Anything He Was”

The indie-folk trio Tiny Habits is back, and they’ve brought a heavy dose of emotional honesty with them. After the breakout success of their 2024 debut album All for Something, Maya Rae, Cinya Khan, and Judah Mayowa are officially rolling into their next era, announcing their sophomore LP, Keepers, due August 28, 2026.

To set the stage, they’ve just dropped their latest single, “Anything He Was” a song so tender it’s almost fragile, featuring a surprise turn from The 1975’s Matty Healy.

The Ache of Loving Someone Else’s Ghost

“Anything He Was” hits on that specific, gut-wrenching kind of loneliness—the experience of pouring your heart into someone who is still looking over their shoulder at a past partner.

With the band’s signature, lush three-part harmonies, the song unpacks the exhausting cycle of trying to be “enough” for a person who is secretly measuring you against a memory. As the band put it, the track lives in the “ache of loving someone who is still haunted by someone else.” When you hear that chorus—“I don’t know why I can’t be anything he was to you”—it’s impossible not to feel that familiar sting of being the second choice.

Matty Healy’s guest vocal on the second verse fits surprisingly well. He adds a different, more weathered texture to the trio’s polished, acoustic-driven sound, making the conversation between the two parties feel even more raw.

From Boston Dorms to the Big Stage

If you’ve been following Tiny Habits since the beginning, you know their story is as wholesome as their music is sad. Formed back in early 2022 while at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, the three of them didn’t start with a high-budget studio push—they started by crowding into a college dormitory stairwell, singing covers, and hitting “post” on their phones.

That organic, real-life connection is exactly why they blew up. They went from those echoey stairwell videos to a full-blown touring act in record time. Since their early days in Massachusetts, they’ve managed to:

• Become the gold standard for opening acts, supporting artists like Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams, and Lizzy McAlpine.

• Catch the ear of heavy hitters like the late David Crosby and Elton John.

• Carve out a sound that feels like a love letter to 70s folk, but with a modern, indie-pop heart.

What’s Coming Next with ‘Keepers’

“Anything He Was” is just the teaser for Keepers. With producers Philip Weinrobe and Ryan Linvill behind the boards, this album feels like a deeper dive into everything the trio does best: the messy reality of human connection, the struggle of figuring out who you are, and the complicated work of actually staying in love.

Whether you were there for the first viral stairwell clip or you’re just now stumbling onto their harmonies, Keepers is shaping up to be one of the most honest records of the year.