Matt Pond PA - The Dark Leaves (2010)

Matt Pond PA has fashioned a decade-long (and counting) career out of giving us things we’ve heard so many times before. The Dark Leaves, is by no means a bad album. It’s pleasantly poppy, has a warm, approachable feel to it, is often rather tuneful, and the music and vocals lend it enough emotional depth for it to feel somewhat relevant. All in all, this makes for good pop music. I rather like Pond’s vocals, in fact. The only real fault is that this album feels somewhat unfulfilling. It delivers on the one front of being musically competent and having a nice atmosphere to it, but it lacks any real defining characteristic. There isn’t one aspect of the music that sets it apart or above the rest of the pack. There also isn’t any one aspect that is annoying or feels out of place. While there really aren’t many highs and lows, “Remains” and “The Dark Leaves Theme” are especially good songs, and this album wound up being far more enjoyable than I expected.

link in comments