'A Short Film about Dark Bird is Home' by The Tallest Man on Earth

The tallest man on Earth is Sultan Kösen with his 251 cm (8 ft 3 in). He is from Turkey and has nothing to do with music. But ‘The Tallest Man on Earth’ is the stage name of the Swedish singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson, who has everything to do with music. On March 22nd, he presented this video, which is sort of a nine-minute documentary about his fourth studio album called “Dark Bird is Home” which was released on 12 May 2015 on the Dead Oceans label. The video is directed by Dan Huiting (Bon Iver, Colin Stetson), and narrated by Matsson himself, alternating between English and Swedish. The film includes footage from the recording sessions for “Dark Bird is Home”, as well as more personal moments in which Matsson enjoys the lovely Swedish outdoors. At the same time, the video was published, an announcement for a series of concerts in the States was made, which will be added to his ongoing North American tour in support of the album.

Matsson's music is compared to that of Bob Dylan, regarding vocal style and songwriting directions. Although he acknowledges Dylan’s influences, as well as the influences of some earlier proponents of the folk-revival like  Pete Seeger or Woody Guthrie, he is unwilling to see himself as part of a tradition. “This is how I play. This is how I write songs," says The Tallest Man on Earth.