Review Summary: Your messiah is in town.
To some, it may seem that this guy wants to be Bob Dylan. The truth is that this guy isn’t trying to be him or rip him off; he wants to be the next best thing. Kristian Matsson, also known as The Tallest Man on Earth, takes quite a bit of his influence from Mr. Dylan; from his heartwarming, twanged acoustic guitar work, to his near mirror image of Dylan’s vocal style. Every artist has to start somewhere and for Kristian it was on his first self-titled EP that brings the listener into the world of Swedish folk music. Some of the notes on this record tend to be a bit repetitive, but it’s still better than most of the folk music on the market today.
On the first song, Tallest Man brings you into his home and sets you in front of his fire. While not the most unique song, the lyrics make up for the monotony. The second song titled “Walk the Line” is sadly not a Johnny Cash cover, but this song can prove to be one of the best Tallest Man vocal performances to date. Tallest Man’s ability to tell you a story through song is just magnificent. “Steal Tomorrow” is a great example of a more upbeat song by Tallest Man. With an obvious un-mastered recording structure, Tallest Man’s first release is just as emotional as it is natural. The album ends with “Into the Steam” which also appears on Tallest Man’s first full length Shallow Graves. It sports some great Dylan-esque vocals and is just as folksy as good folk should be. Listen to this record and leave it with the fact that The Tallest Man on Earth is one of best modern folk artists out there. While his tunes from his first release don’t match up to his more recent works, they are still a very worthy addition to any music collection.
