Matt Jones - "The Black Path"

I actually got my hands on this album a while back and I have been dying to post about it for months, and now I finally get to! Some of you may remember when I wrote about Matt Jones' performance at The Creek and The Cave earlier this year. He pretty much instantly became one of my favorite artists and I've been looking forward to this album ever since. It's his first full-length album I do believe, "The Black Path." Well, my anticipation was not let down. I have been listening to the album on repeat since I received it months ago and I have been listening to little else. I'm pretty sure Matt Jones is a genius. I'm kind of confused as to how he is not famous.

The first time I saw Matt Jones perform, he said that he didn't have sad songs, and when he forgot the lyrics to his one sad song he announced "I've forgotten how to be sad." However, I think this album has an intense melancholy, if not sadness, behind it that his EP didn't have. "The Black Path" is a fitting name for it I suppose. His EP was much more whimsical, though still slightly dark. This album surpasses the EP in complexity and fullness, but I do miss that playfulness from the EP that is not present on some of the slower, gloomier sounding tracks of the album. Of course, my favorite tracks on the album are the ones that still maintain that whimsical quality - Threadlines; Jugulars, Bones & Blisters; and Waltzing With Lady Dawn. Each of these songs is positively beautiful. Well, the whole album is beautiful. But these three songs are some of the best songs I have ever heard. Ever. Every time I listen to them, I am completely blown away and all I can seem to muster is "wow." Not very descriptive, I apologize. But listen to them and hear for yourself.

So check him out. I'm not sure how you can purchase the album at this point, as it hasn't officially been released. But if you contact him on his myspace or something, perhaps you can just purchase it directly from him for the time being. Or he can at least give you more information.

Threadlines [mp3]
Jugulars, Bones & Blisters [mp3]
Waltzing With Lady Dawn [mp3]

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