Known for a lean yet melodic strain of indie folk that draws energy from vocals alternately rugged and unfailingly ardent, paired with lyrics steeped in poetry, Kristian Matsson records and performs as the Tallest Man on Earth. After issuing a stripped-down acoustic EP in 2006, he earned widespread critical praise with his debut full-length, Shallow Grave, which appeared in 2008. As international listeners discovered his work, Matsson began incorporating denser arrangements and production techniques on 2012’s There’s No Leaving Now, blending folk roots with indie-rock textures. His 2023 release, Henry St., reflected further evolution as a writer when he tracked the set with a complete band for the first time.
Born in Dalarna, Sweden, in 1983, Matsson entered the music scene as a member of Montezumas before stepping forward as a solo artist in 2006. Inspired by roots-oriented Swedish acts including Thomas Denver Jonsson and Homesick Hank, he issued a self-titled five-track EP of unadorned acoustic material accompanied solely by guitar on the Swedish imprint Gravitation. The EP and its follow-up single “Pistol Dreams” drew favorable notices, prompting the 2008 arrival of Shallow Grave, his first album under the Tallest Man on Earth name and one licensed in the United States by the boutique indie label Mexican Summer. Extensive touring followed, encompassing support dates with Bon Iver and John Vanderslice, before he delivered his second album, The Wild Hunt, in 2010—his initial project for Dead Oceans Records.
A five-song EP, Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird, surfaced before the year ended and introduced Matsson’s first electric-guitar recordings. He expanded the sonic palette further on 2012’s There’s No Leaving Now, then reached a new peak of ambition with 2015’s Dark Bird Is Home, which enlisted a full band on several tracks along with electronic loops, horns, backing vocalists, and a wide, atmospheric studio sound. In 2018 Matsson launched a series of releases under the working title When the Bird Sees the Solid Ground. These tracks emphasized a tighter, more intimate atmosphere and greater reliance on acoustic guitar; they first appeared individually with accompanying videos in which he discussed the songs, before being collected as the 2019 album I Love You. It’s a Fever Dream, which featured the singles “The Running Styles of New York” and “I’m a Stranger Now.”
After several years based in New York City, Matsson relocated to a farm in Sweden in 2020, focusing on gardening while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and a prolonged stretch of writer’s block. Once touring resumed in 2021, fresh inspiration returned and he began assembling material for a new album. While clearing his mind by cutting lo-fi covers on a portable recorder, he compiled ten such interpretations into the digital release Too Late for Edelweiss, issued in September 2022. He simultaneously completed work on Henry St., his 2023 album produced by Nick Sanborn of Sylvan Esso; the set marked his first full-band recording and included contributions from guitarist Ryan Gustafson, drummer TJ Maiani, keyboardist Phil Cook, CJ Camerieri on horns, and Adam Schatz on reeds.
