Though New York singer/songwriter Matt Longo had been actively playing out and recording for years when he took up the name
Thin Lear as a moniker for his ornate, heart-wrenching songs, something about the project felt like a rebirth. The singularity that separates
Thin Lear from solid recordings Longo issued earlier under his own name comes into full focus on
Wooden Cave, the project's detailed and long-labored debut full-length album. Longo painstakingly builds each of the album's 11 songs around lush, often somber arrangements that recall masterful songwriters from several eras. Lithe vocals float gracefully over a chamber pop backdrop of strings, piano, and rolling drums on the title track, sounding like a collaboration between
Harry Nilsson and
Have One on Me-era
Joanna Newsom. Poppier, more upbeat songs like "Maniacs" or "The Guesthouse" are pushed into exciting territory by their unexpected jazz touches. What seems like a standard melodic tune suddenly opens up into a frenetic and unhinged guitar solo or floating clouds of
Astral Weeks-styled saxophone. Longo's songs manage to shine regardless of the arrangements, with album-opener "Netta" and the gently beautiful "A Simple Phrase" guided by his controlled vocals and finely crafted lyrics that explore pain, isolation, and the passage of time.
Wooden Cave is on par with the albums that inspired it:
Leonard Cohen's dark backroom soliloquies and the more bittersweet moments of
Nilsson's drifty pop. It's a fantastic debut with songs that would be just as strong played alone on a piano as they are in their complexly arranged forms.