The Tallest Man on Earth — Shallow Grave

The two most overused words in conversations about folk music are earthy and Dylanesque, so apologies beforehand. In 2008, a Swedish singer-songwriter, Kristian Matsson, released an earthy Dylanesque album, Shallow Grave, under his stage name, the Tallest Man on Earth. It’s a compendium of ten three-minute guitar folk songs that are unique in their simplicity: one man, one acoustic guitar. Musically, each song is incredibly evocative; lyrically, each contains the appropriate number of references to natural phenomenon: wind, change, fire and things ‘baby’s do: crying, leaving, loving, etc. 

Most lyrical folk masterpieces straddle two narratives: the natural and the personal, the real and the abstract. The mysteries of the real world are juxtaposed against the weight of the songwriter’s abstract inner world. They make you wonder, what is real? Is it the mysterious wind or is it what you know for sure, what’s in your mind, something that’s abstract for everyone else. What is heavy? Is it the sun and the stars and the day and the night or is it your deepest emotions to which only you are privy? Is it the universe or the human condition? It’s for the reason that folk music seems disarming in its simplicity. 

This is mostly true for Shallow Grave too. Except lyrically, it’s often a lot simpler than it is disarming. I’m not complaining; I think it more than compensates with its intricate musicality. I’m just saying the album starts to strike you as less Dylanesque as you listen to it more often, falling just short of the term masterpiece. Check it out here.