By Eva Garber, Arts Contributor
When it comes to the raw, rugged, often screeching vocals of Kristian Mattson, the talent behind the moniker The Tallest Man on Earth, you’re either on the bus or you’re off the bus. Personally, I am on the bus. In the recently released EP Sometimes the Blues is just a Passing Bird, Mattson offers up his usual tricks, melancholic ballads and folky love songs. After listening to the first few songs on the album, which features just five new gems, I breathed a sigh of relief to hear that Mattson hasn’t strayed from the style that we’ve grown to love.
Mattson, who hails from Sweden, has been likened to North American big timers such as Bob Dylan for his rustic squeal and the more contemporary Iron and Wine for the simple guitar riffs that provoke feelings of campfire nostalgia.
In this album, Mattson combines the trials of what sound like depression and
love lost and a variety of other generic sap song elements with all that is natural such as rivers, wheat and dreams. I would consider this particular album to be of the “whimsical folk” genre.
A personal favourite on the album is “Little River.” With its folky guitar picking and its dreamy lyrics, this one is particularly touching. I have yet to determine an equivalent to last year’s track “The Wild Hunt,” which gripped indie hearts, or “The Gardener” from 2008, which showcased the most extreme degree of Mattson’s raw, organic talent.
Mattson has proven himself to be redundant and one dimensional, but I mean this in a good way. It’s refreshing to throw on any of Mattson’s albums and rest assured you’re going to get exactly what you bargained for.
I would never go so far as to call his latest work “innovative,” but for those of you who love a sappy love song, this album features five new songs to add to your rainy day, break-up or nap-time playlists.
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