Album Review: The Tallest Man On Earth - Theres' No Leaving Now

30 May 2012 | 5:54 pm | Dave Drayton

This is without doubt A Tallest Man On Earth album, and in no way is that a bad thing. It is a pleasure to witness the steady, gradual incline of his songwriting.

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Since Kristian Matsson arrived – a troubadour with acoustic guitar in hand and a slightly strangled voice that brought apt comparisons to another peddling folk tunes where an earnestness of delivery omitted the need for pitch-perfect vocals (Bob Dylan) – he has turned out consistently good releases at a casually rapid pace. With this, his third album and fifth release in six years, his progression continues; the voice a little more assured but no less affecting, the production values crawling at a snail's pace, still on the rawer side of things, charmingly lo-fi but a little cleaner with each release. Some slide guitar on Bright Lanterns and Wind And Walls, and lingering piano on title track (and crooning, introspective mid-point of the album) There's No Leaving Now, mark such baby steps.

Once again recorded by Matsson in his home studio in Dalarna, Sweden, there is a familiarity and closeness in the sounds of There's No Leaving Now. It still sounds as though each string is launching up, stretching to be heard above the others and just as quickly being drowned out by one either side of it as Matsson's energetic and exuberant twanging pluck of the strings once again lays the bed for his vocal musings. Both guitar and voice are heavy with character, with a distinctive personality; this is without doubt A Tallest Man On Earth album, and in no way is that a bad thing. It is a pleasure to witness the steady, gradual incline of his songwriting.