When listening to The Wild Hunt by the Tallest Man on Earth, it becomes apparent that Swedish folk artist Kristian Matsson has created a work of aural folk art. The lyrics are pure poetry, animated by Matsson’s gravelly voice and accompanied with cheery guitar, and every track strikes the perfect folksy note.
It isn’t often that artists create both beautiful verses and catchy hooks, but somehow TTMOE does both. All of the songs on The Wild Hunt are lyrical, and each one manages to carve out its own space without feeling like a continuation of the track before. “You’re Going Back” feels like an epic journey, even though the lyrics by themselves are actually rather repetitive. It just so happens that Matsson makes every word feel genuine and fresh.
Admittedly, Matsson’s vocals are neither crisp nor clean. They have a scratchy feeling, but these songs would feel odd without that roughness. It gives an emotional edge to the LP, particularly on tracks like “Love is All.”
The one issue with the album is the lack of musical variety. Most songs seem to feature the same light, rather happy guitar sounds. It isn’t immediately apparent, but after a while the static instrumentation becomes wearing.
With The Wild Hunt, Kristian Matsson may just live up to his moniker, because he has made an album that will force the listener to look upwards to find the source of his sweet music.
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