Matt Longo is a Queens, NYC-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who has recently received attention across the blogosphere for his solo recording project Thin Lear. With Thin Lear, the Queens-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist “aims to craft lovingly homemade pop songs that sparkle and thump and unfurl deliciously” and is largely inspired by the likes of Todd Rundgren, Shuggie Otis and Kate Bush with Longo’s material pairing meticulous production with spontaneous, live performance.
Longo is set to release his forthcoming Thin Lear album Wooden Cave later this year, and the album’s first single “The Guesthouse,” is centered around a propulsive and angular groove, soaring organs, Longo’s plaintive vocals, an infectious hook and blasts of horn within an erratic and downright spastic arrangement — and while sounding as though it could have been released in 1974 or so, the song evokes a post-modern frustration with oneself. As Longo explained to me in press notes “. . . I think I was writing about my inability to know how to exist in my free time. I don’t know what to do with myself when I’m on my own anymore, without a task, and it’s a terrifying concept, because I used to love just daydreaming or staring off into space. This song imagines me trapped in a “guesthouse,” attempting to take some time for myself, and failing miserably to the point where I’m crawling out of my skin, carving my name into the walls. I wanted the instrumentation to be surprising and erratic at times, but also relentless, so I tethered everything to that bassline, and added unhinged sax solos and sped up guitar on the breaks. I wanted it to feel anxious and wild, and also claustrophobic, as one might feel when they don’t know what to do with themselves.”
