Pages tagged “matt costa”

Lighter-than-air acoustic set from SoCal singer/songwriter

The second album by this one-time competitive skateboarder from Huntington Beach was produced by No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont and released on Jack Johnson’s label, so its surfeit of strummed-acoustic whimsy isn’t surprising. Costa’s jazz-tinged neo-folk songs are boyishly engaging for as long as they last, but they drift away without leaving a trace, as he too often settles for merely maintaining a feathery, bittersweet modality, so that the McCartney-esque tunefulness of the title track, the Mungo Jerry-like lilt of “Miss Magnolia” and the ever-so-slight edginess of “Cigarette Eyes” stand out by default. The 25-year-old artist’s limited, everyman voice convincingly projects sincerity, but it lacks the implied psychological complexity found in the similarly unvarnished deliveries of Jeff Tweedy or Ben Gibbard. Consequently, when Costa sings, in the fingerpicked “Downfall,” “If I wait long enough, the sun might come out,” the line has little more weight than the forecast of a TV weatherman.

The folk singer, whose music—according to Fader—is made for an audience that would “give its right nut to hear Nick Drake one last time,” will release his sophomore effort October 2.

Unfamiliar Faces, besides making us yearn for Cheers, is Costa’s second album on Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records. The ex-skateboarder locked himself in his Sacramento bedroom with his treasured possessions and wrote the new tunes. He later reteamed with No Doubt’s guitarist Tom Dumont to record.

The 25-year-old has performed at Coachella, Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza and has headlined his own tours, which featured The 88, Elvis Perkins and The Watson Twins as openers. And you don't even have to sacrifice your future children for a listen!

Related links:
MattCosta.com
Matt Costa on MySpace
Matt Costa's "Sunshine" video on YouTube

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