There’s No Leaving Now… Unless you can swim
Review: The Tallest Man on Earth – There’s No Leaving Now
Published on June 28th, 2012 | Jonny Abrams
…on which Kristian Matsson ditches the the hearty rasp that graced 2010 LP The Wild Hunt in favour of a more Dylan-y wail, with typically lovely results.
Benevolent, fast-yet-gentle fingerpicking rendered thick and shady by a sepia-tinted production: this is the order of the day on There’s No Leaving Now, the bittersweet folk-pop of which is bound to have already prompted many a reviewer to use adjectives like ‘nostalgic’ and ‘heartfelt’, although with lyrics such as “Send away free for the boat / And your kid will lose a battle / But your ways will let him go” it can occasionally stray into the realms of the inscrutable.
Mostly, though, it’s like a warm, glowing melting pot of I Am Kloot, Ivan Campo and Fruit Bats, blessed with memorably world-weary refrains such as “sometimes it’s just roses dying too young” (“Revelation Blues”), “they shook the earth in 1904” (“1904”) and “Why are you drinking again, little brother / When your rambling’s the hard part of loving you?” (“Little Brother”) set to dancing melodies, blissed-out chord progressions, some nifty guitar work…and, on minor-key closer “On Every Page”, a sophisticated, classic European feel that The Tallest Man on Earth wears well. A direction for album four, perhaps?
Little here will surprise you, but if you just want to lie in the grass and lose yourself in beauty then here’s a good album to keep you company.
Rocksucker says: Three and a Half Quails out of Five!
There’s No Leaving Now is out now on Dead Oceans. For more information, please visit tallestmanonearth.com
About the Author
Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.
