ok, here it goes
Well I finally completed my review of this new album by Matt Pond PA (I've been working on it off and on for over a month). It was hard to find the right words to describe the feelings found in this album. This is a first draft for now.
Matt Pond PA - Emblems
A new album, a new label, a slightly new direction in sound. After two releases on File 13 (an unlikely label to be on, with such wacky acts as Atom And His Package and Need New Body filling its catalog) and two on Polyvinyl, Matt Pond Pa releases "Emblems" on the newly created Altitude label. While The Nature of Maps may be more varied in terms of styles and content, Emblems feels more like a tightly wrapped and introspective album. This time around the acoustic guitar forms the basis of each song around which the assortment of other instruments are intertwined. This new approach seems to make this release a bit more personal for Pond. (Then again, the inclusion of his full name as his band's moniker makes it sometimes hard to see this as anything more than just a personal endeavor.)
Starting with the hopeful "KC", MPPA leads the listener through 50 min of blissful peace and harmony, a common mood throughout the band's repertoire. Each track holds your hand and leads you through the forests of Canada and New England. Pond earnestly dishes out thoughtful observations throughout, from Closest's "look out/there is danger even in the simple word hello" to Lily Two's "Lily you be just who you are". And if "Claire" and "Lily" are real girls, there is then something to look forward to for some of us. There is a never-ending supply of love in both Pond's voice and lyrics.
Pond's obsession with our peaceful neighbors to the north, and words such as "measure" have definitely done his talents justice, and will most likely continue to, as this album shows the tightness of a band not afraid to sing about nature and the beauty it fosters.
Matt Pond PA - Emblems
A new album, a new label, a slightly new direction in sound. After two releases on File 13 (an unlikely label to be on, with such wacky acts as Atom And His Package and Need New Body filling its catalog) and two on Polyvinyl, Matt Pond Pa releases "Emblems" on the newly created Altitude label. While The Nature of Maps may be more varied in terms of styles and content, Emblems feels more like a tightly wrapped and introspective album. This time around the acoustic guitar forms the basis of each song around which the assortment of other instruments are intertwined. This new approach seems to make this release a bit more personal for Pond. (Then again, the inclusion of his full name as his band's moniker makes it sometimes hard to see this as anything more than just a personal endeavor.)
Starting with the hopeful "KC", MPPA leads the listener through 50 min of blissful peace and harmony, a common mood throughout the band's repertoire. Each track holds your hand and leads you through the forests of Canada and New England. Pond earnestly dishes out thoughtful observations throughout, from Closest's "look out/there is danger even in the simple word hello" to Lily Two's "Lily you be just who you are". And if "Claire" and "Lily" are real girls, there is then something to look forward to for some of us. There is a never-ending supply of love in both Pond's voice and lyrics.
Pond's obsession with our peaceful neighbors to the north, and words such as "measure" have definitely done his talents justice, and will most likely continue to, as this album shows the tightness of a band not afraid to sing about nature and the beauty it fosters.