The Tallest Man On Earth
There's No Leaving Now

June 2012. The third Long Playing by the Swedish singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson, known as "The Tallest Man On Earth," is released.

The artist continues the journey through acoustic music from his previous albums, with the delightfully noteworthy "The Wild Hunt", in which due to the Folk style, the vocal timbre, and the well-crafted lyrics, many have compared him to Bob Dylan. It’s not a crazy comparison, even if the lyrics, in my opinion (and I presume for many), do not reach the quality and rhythm of the Duluth master.

The album is very light, but not banal for this reason. The spaces left by his acoustic guitar are filled with his magnificent voice and occasionally by the parasitic presence of a soft electric guitar or a piano locked in "Moderato" mode. Listening to this album is like traveling on a spaceship between the Shapley Supercluster and the Bootes Void: the density of chords, notes, instruments is neither minimal like post-rock nor intense like indie, there is a perfect balance; not many galaxies are encountered, only the essential ones for harmony. Here it is: Harmony, that’s what this album represents, and it’s worth delving a bit deeper. The number of tracks reflects the standard 10 of previous LPs.

To Just Grow Away gives the prompt for the journey to begin. We are about to circumnavigate the Bootes Void at the edge of the galaxy supercluster. The song immediately sets the theme with the album and its particular melancholy. After Revelation Blues comes Leading Me Now where the usual acoustic guitar is accompanied by a personal story until reaching the beautiful single 1904, one of the most beautiful tracks on the album, which most resonates with Bob Dylan. The lyrics are magnificent, the music as well, an energetic acoustic guitar is tamed by a voice that encourages you to move forward in times of difficulty. This is followed by the light Bright Lanterns and the title track, where the acoustic guitar that had so far dominated the album is suddenly replaced by a piano, the track is very touching, perhaps my favorite, deserves a listen. Wind and Walls marks the immediate return of the acoustic guitar and the piece is cheerful, almost to lift the listener from the emotional melancholy of the previous track. Little Brother tells yet another story, this time in the endless duel between voice and guitar the voice dominates and Kristian decides to write this piece addressing a third person. Lastly come the soft Criminals and On Every Page which close the album not at the harmony levels with which it began but with a minimalism almost Sigur Rós-like found in Agaetis Byrjun.

Personally, I adored this album, especially the tracks 1904, There’s No Leaving Now, and Wind And Walls. The album is easily digestible until the end without the use of Citrosodina and even invites you to listen again.

Oops, we’ve completed the tour of the Void. We've traveled almost a billion light-years, all in... not even 40 minutes, maybe time has stopped, or maybe, maybe it was just a dream... a dream told by a man who looks higher than anyone else. (Ah, for the record, the tallest man on earth is Sultan Kosen who stands at 251 cm, so Kristian Matsson may not be the tallest man on earth, but he has certainly shown other qualities.)