Homeless Ballads

Matt Christensen’s fronted the bummed and blissed out Chicago band Zelienople for 15 years, and he plays similarly lovely, downcast music under his own name. In the past two years he’s undergone a creative explosion; as of this writing he posts a new album to Bandcamp every two weeks or so. Depending on the project, his music incorporates varying degrees of influence from slowcore, desert blues, ambient-drone, and naturalistic jazz in the vein of late-period Talk Talk. This album is Matt at his most stripped down, singing over desolate, hypnotic, bluesy electric guitar. His level-tempered, focused, free flowing approach to music encourages meditation and calm. He’s quickly become one of my favorite artists to follow. Perfect late-night music. All songs are slow and sound very similar to one another. No FCCs detected. Favorites: 1, 2, 5, 8.

1. *(6:24)—Standout favorite. Sounds like solo Jason Molina slowed down even further. Woozy slide guitar lead. “Getting by on Vietnamese cakes, getting by / Walk to the beach, oblivious to the beach.”
2. *(5:12)—Loosely interlaced tracks of soft fingerpicking. “There’s something in this town that’s every town.”
3. (2:24)—Instrumental. Calm washes of slow fingerpicked guitar.
4. (5:40)—A little faster. Distant harmonica. “I live alone with you / I never predicted that you’d become what you turned into.”
5. *(1:41)—Instrumental. Similar to track 3, with faded surf guitar.
6. (6:31)—This one bounces a bit, even as it skirts the edge of formlessness. “There’s no breadline, there’s no handouts and there’s no jobs.”
7. (5:31)—Boogie at quarter-speed.
8. *(5:46)—So slow it almost feels like ambient music at points. “Sit with me and hold my hand.”