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Wow doesn't Matthew Good just keep getting better & better! This CD is so great...I think it's as good as his other CD Avalanche was back several years.

I really have to say that when it comes to musical instrumentation Matthew Good has a real gift for being able to integrate different instruments into each song that he writes. He knows instinctly when those various instruments need to be heightened or simplistic in each song...that the instruments can tell the story just as much as lyrics or vocal ability enhance a song.

My favorite song is "Shallows Low" which is an absolutely beautifully haunting,dark and definetly show off the instrumentation genius that is Matthew Good (and of course those accompanying him). I love the female singers background vocal on it...that just slides in & out of this song at the right moment's. I liked hearing the addition of horns used in this song as well and then the crezendo of fabulous atypical Matthew Good guitar work....bringing it back to being a rock song as well. He is so good on the guitar it is amazing...he just starts ripping those strings at the end of the song...that just make you want to get up and start dancing...& then it swtiches again...into this beautiful light orchestral piece. I could listen to this song over & over again.

"How It Goes" is a great Matty song...that you just want to put on the MP3 in the car on a beautiful summer day & hit the road in the country with the top down letting the breeze flow through your hair taking in the smell of wildflowers as your winding every corner. I love the guitar work on this song so much! The lyrical content is deep & dark but somehow how he keeps it feeling light, hopeful & airy!

"Non Populus" is my 2nd favorite track on this CD. The musical arrangement is outstanding on this song. I love the echo effect of his voice in the beginning of this song....how does he do that? The lyrics are simplistic in nature but that is actually what marries this song with the beautiful musical arrangement. Maybe he just has a knack for making a song seem simplistic when it probably is actually very hard to compose....but I love how he makes it seem that way for the listener. I love the electric guitar work on this song so much. Just put it on repeat folks because you will want to hear this song over & over.

"In A Place Of Lesser Men" is a cool type of rock anthem about women per se & shows how insightful he is as a man & is unabashed to translate that into words that convey someone of high intelligence with high observational skills. Lucky for us to have a man do that ...so hat's off Matty!

"What If I Can't See The Stars Mildred" is a cool rock song; kind of a choppy composition style that somehow works...loved the F bomb being dropped in this song! Ha! Ha!

"Extraordinary Fades" is tied as my favorite song as I just love the drum beats in this song. I also feel like the way the song is crafted lyrically & instrumentally is like 2 Quantum particles that just have to be together! It's unavoidable, unexplainable....they just ARE! I love the softness to his voice coupled with the beautiful lyrics and the addition of the strings sounds so good!

"Set Me On Fire"....OMG...I could listen to that acoustical guitar riff Matty is so good at using in his songs....like food to a rumbling belly. This is another favorite Matty song....yes you now realize so many favorites that it's hard to choose. I think this is just so well delivered as it builds over the course of the introduction of the song. He is so good at crafting songs that do this.....slowly catching your attention....building the mystery........bringing it back again to the start...like someone drifting in a rowboat on open waters!

I hope for the future he keeps pursuing the use of other artists integrated into his own style of music & finds a way to introduce other instruments i.e. "harp, flute etc." as the different instruments used along with his fabulous guitar work sound great together! Keep up the great job Matty boy if your out there listening to your reviews! It's no wonder your name is Matthew "Good"....your ancestors had that right!

Cheers!

Very quick and to the point, this is a wonderful album. If you are the type to shut your eyes and let the guitar take you away to another land, this is the album for you. Non Populus is simply a masterpiece... personally however while I was whisked away during an ever so quiet transition from strat to acoustic my vinyl lit up with nothing but deafening static. I'm not sure whats going on with my pressing so I am going to return it for another copy... I fear the stain in my couch will never go away... Lastly, and just being honest, the album starts strong but then dies ever so slowly until the end. There is no swan-song to 'finish' the album, but this again is only a personal opinion.

This album is a sonic masterpiece. Instrumentals take centre stage in a way they never have in Good's previous work. Piano, woodwind, and horns tell a story without insisting upon one meaning, as the lyrics are kept sparse. This album reminds me of walking through a forest and seeing sudden shafts of light, hearing bird song, and suddenly encountering a raccoon or a hallow tree. It is surprising and refreshing. It speaks of happiness with hints of melancholy. The perfect listening for rainy days with your balcony door open, riding the bus to a ferry terminal, putting the day to bed. In short, the ideal soundtrack to a life in transition, and a tonic which reminds me everything is going to be okay.

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5.0 out of 5 stars superb
This is a great, great album. All else has already been written in other reviews. My favourite song so far is "Mildred". Read more

Published 5 months ago by katarina1976

5.0 out of 5 stars An obvious work of love.
It seems obvious to me that at some point in his career Matthew Good stopped making music to appeal to the masses and started making music out of a place of beauty and truth. Read more

Published 10 months ago by crono68

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome as usual!
I first heard the Matthew Good band in 1998 and I have been addicted to his music ever since. Even after the band broke up and he decided to go on his own I stuck with him. Read more

Published 11 months ago by Greg

1.0 out of 5 stars Another dud
I had high expectations for this one discovering Matt Good was going back to producer Livesey. No such luck. Read more

Published 12 months ago by K. Wall

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