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Matt Kivel announces his new album, bend reality ~ like a wave, out October 14th on Pedro Y El Lobo, and shares the lead single/video, “find love” featuring Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Kivel’s musical universe is one of beautiful and stark contrasts. It is shaped by complex lyrics with vivid imagery, deftly-composed melodies, and abstract instrumental soundscapes. It can channel the stillness of the natural world while transmitting a deep, inner pain and grotesque sense of dislocation, reflecting the noise and claustrophobia of contemporary life. His songs are often guided by an unconventional falsetto and minimal, yet musically inventive, writing style, that make them instantly recognizable. bend reality 〜 like a wave transfigures the trademark aspects of his career into eleven of his most accessible songs.
Kivel started out in Los Angeles, his hometown, playing in the indie band Princeton along with his twin brother Jesse, from 1999 to 2012. It was in L.A. that Matt released his first four solo albums: Double Exposure in 2013 on Olde English Spelling Bee, Days of Being Wild in 2014 on Woodsist, and Janus and Fires on the Plain, both released in 2016 on Driftless. Kivel’s sensitivity for delicate songwriting – able to oscillate between pop and experimental styles without ever falling into either – earned him a cult following and critical acclaim. During this time he collaborated with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes, and performed shows with Angel Olsen, Steve Gunn, and The Clientele, among others. Matt then relocated to Austin and, soon after, New York City. Adapting to these new environments led him to expand his talent for creating evocative atmospheres, going deeper into ambient music and releasing two highly conceptual albums; last night in america (released in 2019 on PYL and Cascine) and that day, on the beach (2020 on PYL).
It makes sense that bend reality 〜 like a wave is his first work to be fully written and recorded in Austin, where Kivel recently settled with his wife Emily. After a period of continuous exploration that saw him move rapidly through styles – lush acoustic folk collaborations with Alasdair Roberts, an unruly and expansive double album with strings and sheets of distortion, and a return to insular, at-home recording – bend reality feels, strangely, centered. It is a glistening, guitar-pop album that is luminous, endlessly melodic, warm, and deep. It feels less like a search and much more like a destination. The album sees Kivel working with a full band for the first time since 2016 and features an impressive roster of musicians, including his decades-long friend and touring buddy Wes Miles (of Ra Ra Riot) and his longtime penpal and sometime musical collaborator Bonnie “Prince” Billy, who appears on three duets.
Matt’s influences are not connected by a specific genre or style, but by his idiosyncratic understanding of what defines great songcraft. One of the most remarkable aspects of this record is how Kivel is able to accommodate such a wide range of inspirations without ever losing his own path. He can echo the pure melodicism of The Beatles, Everly Brothers, or Donovan and then shift to more modern references like Wilco or Jim O’Rourke, but it’s his voice – courageously fragile – that gives the music its special aesthetic and strange identity. When he sings a line, it always takes you somewhere unexpected. “find love” is arguably the most colorful and optimistic song that Matt Kivel has ever composed, showcasing melodic hooks and a bright chorus that lingers in our minds from the very first listen.
“When I wrote this tune I was reading that Beatles book ‘Revolution in the Head,’ where the author breaks down every single Beatles recording to an almost insane degree. And I was feeling Paul’s energy on a deep level. The warmth and movement that comes from his compositions. At the same time, I was thinking about my iPhone and the way that this technology is warping our experiences and relationships and sense of reality. I think, simply, I wanted to put forward the idea that I’d sincerely like to enter a new reality, one that feels more real than the one I am currently living in. I thought that singing this song with Will (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy) would make it feel more human and holy. Vocal harmony is one of humanity’s purely positive non-destructive powers and I’m glad we could tap into it on this song. The world is gravely ill and this is just a small acknowledgment that we are capable of healing if we want to.”
Matt has always been very conscious of his discography as a continually unfolding process – how it flows and evolves from one album to the other, often reflecting the changes in his own life. In a sequence of pure, inventive, and emotional releases, this one is the most grounded. It comes as the ultimate proof of how seriously Kivel takes the act of creating music on its most fundamental level: just for music’s sake. With the album’s title Kivel could be describing music itself, with its magical quality of transforming the air temporarily into notes and rhythms and then disappearing again. Out of nothing… something. Out of stillness… sound bends reality… like a wave.
Pre-order bend reality ~ like a wave
bend reality ~ like a wave Tracklist
1. blush
2. blackbirds
3. find love
4. four dimensions
5. for nothing
6. little world
7. sound of waves
8. amagansett
9. the clearing
10. upon reaching the end
11. waves ~ last days
