It wasn’t a near-death experience, but it was enough to compel Matt Pond to hit the reset button. The newly emancipated, New Hampshire-bred frontguy for the ever-morphing outfit Matt Pond PA broke his leg on tour in 2011. Shaken by the freak occurrence and the ensuing surgery, Pond finished out the tour sitting down, then headed to St. Augustine, Fla., to convalesce with friends. Once there, he quickly took to the funky, historic northeast Florida town’s laid-back lifestyle and Southern lilt. A rejuvenated sheen permeates The Lives Inside The Lines Of Your Hands (BMG)—especially the new album’s ebullient first half. It isn’t so much that Pond has abandoned the autumnal, inward-delving perspective that pervaded 2010’s The Dark Leaves, or his long-established penchant for overt melancholy. But he has given both a thorough airing out with a blast of smog-free, temperate air. Pond will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new feature on him.
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Pond: The Noise Made By People is my favorite album of all time. Above Harvest, above Revolver, above High Voltage, above Becoming A Jackal. “Come On Let’s Go” is a perfect song, as it pulls elements and elegance from the ’60s and makes them all echo back from the future. “What’s the point in wasting time with people that you’ll never know/Come on let’s go.” Broadcast‘s Trish Keenan passed away a few years ago. I’m not usually fazed by the cyclical nature of life, but I really wanted to hear more from her. Melody’s Echo Chamber has brought me the close to the feeling, as if there’s company in the circling solitude.
Video after the jump.
