It’s always a pleasure when an artist raises their game.  I really enjoyed The Tallest Man on Earth’s first record, Shallow Grave, which came out in 2008.  But this year’s two offerings, his album The Wild Hunt and subsequent EP Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird were a cut above.  Kristian Mattson (for he is The Tallest Man on Earth) has a voice that is keen, earthy and powerful enough to carry each song with only an acoustic guitar for accompaniment.  This is one-man-and-his-guitar music at its best, and the formula works wonders whether it is underpinning slow plaintive tracks such as Like the Wheel (from the EP) or strumming along to more upbeat, folksy tunes like King of Spain (on the album).  Having said that, the two songs that really elevated these records were the only two that deviated from the acoustic format.  On The Dreamer Mattson plugs in his electric guitar for a pretty anthem that asks the blues to flap away, while on the album finale, Kids On The Run, he knuckles down at an ancient-sounding piano to belt out what for me is the most spellbinding tune of the year.  Over the late summer my girlfriend and I did a great deal of driving back and forth to Dorset, and Kids On The Run was the most-played track on the car stereo.  I recommend it for twilight journeys back through the countryside.

The Tallest Man On Earth – ‘Kids On The Run’ (Barcelona 2010) from Jonah James on Vimeo.