The Tallest Man on Earth might not be new to you. He definitely isn’t new to me. Quite frankly, I may have every single word, note, tone, harmonic, and frequency committed to memory since his first EP release. There’s something about this artist that is undeniably beautiful and addictive. I heard him the first time and thought “This is good”. I heard him a second time and thought ” My God…I need this in my life every day”. It’s not very often I find it hard to describe in words what’s really only a voice and a guitar. There’s no electronic blips, no sampled beats, no guitars played in reverse filtered through cathedrals of distortion and reverb. It’s simple. It’s fucking elegant. It’s goddamn impossible to love and if anyone says differently I’d gladly meet them out back and have a real discussion about it.

The Tallest Man on Earth / Little River
The Tallest Man on Earth / The Dreamer
The Tallest Man on Earth / Love is All

Wooo. Ok. So Kristian Matsson, the Swedish born gentleman hiding behind the moniker of The Tallest Man on Earth has just released a new EP of songs digitally. This came out of nowhere, but I’m not complaining one bit. Monday, I went to bed happy. Tuesday, I woke up even happier. The EP is called Sometimes The Blues is Just a Passing Bird and after the first few listens, I find myself on that slippery Tallest Man slope where I’ll listen to this collection of five songs over and over and over and over. I’m not joking. My vinyl copy of Shallow Grave looks about 30 years old. Now this isn’t a review of the new EP. It’s good. No bones about it kids, it’s really fucking good. This is just a celebration of all things The Tallest Man on Earth good. If you’ve never heard him before, then you’re welcome. Two of the standout tracks from the new EP and my favorite tune off The Wild Hunt are posted above for an auditory celebration. Good Lord, when his voice drags the words “I said I could rise from the harness of our goals / Here come the tears / But I let them go” through the mud, my stomach flips itself over and my blood stops. Can you hear the little touches of banjo that fade in and out? Good luck trying to find your grey matter that’s been blown to smithereens. Lets do this:

I’ll Be Glad (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy) – The Tallest Man On Earth from Johanne Swanson on Vimeo.

A live bootleg of a cover song. Imagine if you were sitting in that audience. It doesn’t help that Hajen is singing with him – she’s another amazing Swedish artist that I can’t seem to find any music of over here. They are touring together in November across Europe. Jesus.

A beautiful two-parter from the folks at Hooves on the Turf. This is part one. Really just amazingly shot and some nice candid moments caught on tape. Features songs from his first full length Shallow Grave

NPR does a Tiny Desk concert series. It’s pretty rad. The Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings concert almost killed. I almost died because of it. Kristian seems a bit perturbed, annoyed, or maybe he’s just a cold dude. Whatever he’s got going on he blazes through three tunes and answers a few questions. The guy can perform.

So in conclusion. Yeah. Huge fanboy lovin’ going on over here. Buy the new EP, go see him in concert, pick up the old albums on vinyl. Do whatever you gotta do. I promise you, if you aren’t addicted already, just give it a week and you’ll be coming back every day.

Filed under: Mind Blowing, New to Us, New to You?, Videos