REVIEW: The Wild Hunt By The Tallest Man On Earth

In a world where technology, in many respects, is overtaking creative and emotional honesty, the ‘art of keeping it un-stupidly simple’ can be easily swept into some dusty cultural corner (along with writing letters, making telephone calls and actually meaning something). Through his somewhat mythological moniker (the tallest – really?), Swede Kristian Matsson cuts cleanly through the over-produced bull crap of our day, proving that any ‘layering’ has more to do with the truth an artist should be trying to portray, negating the need to hide behind computer programs and other new-fangled production techniques.

Dubbed the “Swedish Bob Dylan”, Matsson uses his unique voice – accompanied with skilled guitar work and the occasional hint of a banjo – to create stories which have the ability to turn the listener inside out. Songwriting is simply storytelling-to-music, and this talented young man is a true poet. The Wild Hunt is his story.

The first (and title) track immediately sets the direction of the record both musically and emotionally. Minimally unpolished yet sophisticated, the laden themes of loss and departure are quickly introduced; the line, “yes, I’ll be leaving in the Fall” leaves the listener with an empathy for a young man leaving everything he knows and loves for (maybe/hopefully – but probably not) something new and better.  Through 'You’re Going Back', this theme is directed away from life-change toward that old fire we call love. Lost in romantic memory, Matsson implores, “Driver, please don’t go that fucking way!” ripping out the heart of all in earshot – as much as he doesn’t want to admit it, summer is well and truly over for this young lover.

The Tallest Man On Earth - The King of Spain

It’s not all heartbreak however. 'The King of Spain' explores the power of love, turning an unwittingly-romantic “native of the North Folk” into an impassioned conquistador with the whole world (or at least most of Southern Europe) at his feet (“because you named me as your lover/well, I thought I could be anything”). 'A Lion’s Heart' (my personal favourite), tells the tale of “the dreamer within” who pretty much does anything (and everything) for the one he loves. “He’s catching the train to where he’s heard you have been”, “it’s a lion’s heart/that will tumble and tear apart/when he’s coming down the hills for you”. Lady, he wants you – and he’s going to find you.

The Tallest Man On Earth is a master of using words to conjure up distilled mental imagery. His Scandinavian roots shine through in 'Burden of Tomorrow' (“I once held a glacier to an open flame”), and draws on a form of post-modern Nordic mythology in 'A Thousand Ways', morphing the protagonist into some kind of demigod – a “thousand turns of tides” holding “sixteen hundred tigers now tied to silver strings”.  The record’s first single, 'Love Is All' calls on images of the songwriter’s home river and frozen rain to describe that wintry event of love lost and forgotten.

The Tallest Man On Earth - Love Is All

I like everything about this album; each of the ten songs holds a dramatic weight, and the intuitive musicianship matches the writings of this skilled wordsmith. As alluded to earlier, The Wild Hunt may well be an example of where music isn’t right now, and it is a hell of a lot better for it. In the title track, Matsson elicits the sentiment, “I plan to be forgotten when I’m gone”. With music this good, that simply isn’t going to happen.

By Theo Sangster