Okay, first up: Matt Pond is a person. Matt Pond PA is a band. The singer-songwriter moved from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania in 1998, chose the moniker to reflect his new surroundings, and then formed a band to back him up.
The group made their debut with 2000's Measure and has released an album a year, as well as a slew of EP's since. Last year's Emblems found Pond and his band perfecting their style: baroque chamber pop that referenced nature and the changing seasons as often as it did love or heartbreak. More importantly, Emblems was upbeat and tuneful yet restrained, melancholy yet never treacly. It managed to perfectly embody the term 'bittersweet.'
Pond's follow-up, Several Arrows Later, raises the stakes. Following Pond's relocation to New York City, some positive critical buzz and central placement on that zenith of all things up-and-coming, 'The OC,' the band is poised for much bigger things. Rolling Stone labeled the band as part of the 'new mellow' aesthetic and has compared it to The Shins, Death Cab for Cutie and Coldplay.
While these comparisons are not entirely off the mark, they certainly are an oversimplification. Pond's lyrics rarely address matters of the heart directly. He would much rather sing about swimming excursions, or the 'trees and the wild.' On their own, Pond's lyrics and voice are too unobtrusive to be noticed, but Pond rarely comes to the musical forefront. Eve Miller's cello is the band's secret weapon; while plenty of bands use simple cello or violin parts to make their ballads more tear-jerking, Miller's cello acts almost as a lead guitar, swooping and galloping along with the arrangements. Which is not to say it does not sound grand and emotional. In fact, the way the band uses the instrument enhances its beauty; it is being used in ways you do not often hear. On the song 'Emblems,' for example, it is used to provide tension rather than beauty, ratcheting the song to within an inch of its breaking point.
Arrows is more aggressive and immediate than Pond's previous work. On straight-ahead rockers like the title track, Pond laments the city life and the boring parties, one-night stands, and general malaise that accompany it. However, his chosen subject matter, as well as his lyrics to some extent are not really important. The music evokes the emotion he does not express. 'I don't think I want to think about it / how the fall is coming down,' he sings on the standout track 'So Much Trouble.' It would be a boring lyric, but the music that accompanies it perfectly encapsulates the melancholy feeling that accompanies the changing season. The same goes for the rest of the album. It has a distinctly autumnal feel; Pond's dry yet expressive vocals alight over his bandmates' gentle arrangements like dry leaves in a bonfire.
Overall, Arrows is much more notable for its overall sound than any one song'but that seems to be the point. The songs gel into an almost uninterrupted flow. However, the record's strength is also its weakness; it has a fluid, beautiful sound, but if you're looking for a single or a more explosive, immediate sound, it will flow by without you noticing. Several Arrows Later is definitely a good entry point if one wants to get acquainted with Matt Pond PA's understated, bittersweet rock.
