The Wild Hunt (Bonus Track Version)

iTunes Review

On The Wild Hunt, the second full-length release by Kristian Matsson — a.k.a. the Tallest Man On Earth — songs ebb and flow on little more than a nimbly played six-string guitar and Matsson’s passionate and delightfully ragged delivery. The Swedish artist filters musical greats from across timelines and genres: he has an undeniably Dylanesque voice, wrapped in a Bon Iver loner sensibility, while the essence of original Delta blues punctuates his emphatic downstrokes. With strong lyrical imagery and melodies that a ‘60s-era Dylan might have conjured, Matsson sounds utterly at home in Americana folk turf, and even manages to bring something new to the table. There’s an immediacy and intimacy here, and simple, yet poetic, expression invites listeners into the song: on the brilliant, effusive “King of Spain,” Matsson bemoans his “North pole” roots and dreams of Pamplona, where “All the senoritas sighing/will be the fountain of my lies.” His enthusiasm — for lust, regret, for universal longing — is fervent, his guitar work impeccable. Matsson’s moniker might be a stretch, but a more honest and skilled contemporary songwriter is hard to come by.