Swedish crooner Kristian Matsson, aka The Tallest Man on Earth, gives an entire genre of guitar playing folks a reason to delve deeper. His fourth studio album, Dark Bird Is Home, is proof that his songwriting is not only eclectic but delicately disciplined too.
His third installment via indie label Dead Oceans, Matsson's latest indelibly takes the conventions associated with folk music and the singer-songwriter and steeps them into different waters — both turbulent and calm, almost simultaneously.
After the initial single was revealed, the follow-up release of Dark Bird is Home proved to be optimistic, echoing the album's thesis, "That's fine."
From "Fields of our Home" to "Little Nowhere Towns," Matsson has an ethereal presence almost as if he is inside the microphone. Like Olafur Arnalds to Chopin's hits, the recording evokes feelings of isolation and solitude while Matsson's words ring in a new tide, particularly "Get around / this is handsome life / I guess my rhythm grew / through my darker time."
Tinged with distant horns and a studio reverb the likes of Eventide's Space pedal, this LP, which comes three years in the making, sounds as if all ends of the spectrum have been calculated and traversed. Not only has the ironically dubbed Tallest Man traipsed a new landscape but he has found an amalgam of pop and roots that explores new ground never seen before.
May 12 marks the release of the Tallest Man's Dark Bird is Home and Matsson will be touring in support of the new disc — where he is expected to play the Beacon Theatre in NYC on June 3.
Make your way over to NPR for an official preview of the album and check out the single Sagres below.
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