Before Matsson began his solo career, he was the lead singer of the indie band Montezumas. His first solo release,
The Tallest Man on Earth, was released in 2006. The EP received positive reviews. At the start of his solo career, Matsson did not plan to make music full-time, and he released his music without providing personal information or photographs of himself to journalists. To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of The Wild Hunt, Matsson released a cover of "Graceland" by
Paul Simon through
Dead Oceans.
Shallow Grave (2008–2009) In 2008, Matsson released an album,
Shallow Grave, which was praised by the music site
Pitchfork and was listed No. 47 on Pitchfork's list of the
50 Best Albums of 2008. The album received generally favorable reviews. Following
Shallow Grave's release, Matsson was chosen as the opening act for the American indie folk band
Bon Iver. The resulting publicity led to a solo tour throughout the United States, Australia and Europe, where he attracted large crowds, in spite of the lack of a record deal or distribution in the United States. On 9 October 2009, Matsson visited the
Daytrotter studio, where he recorded four songs, including a cover of Bob Dylan's "I Want You." At that time, Matsson cited
Roscoe Holcomb as an influence for his singing style and later included
Emmylou Harris,
Feist and
Cat Power as influences.
The Wild Hunt (2010–2012) Mattson signed with the American label
Dead Oceans; in April 2010, he released his second album,
The Wild Hunt. The single "King of Spain" contains, besides the title track, a cover of
Paul Simon's "Graceland" and the previously unreleased track "Where I Thought I Met the Angels"; it was sold exclusively at the subsequent European tour. During the late summer and autumn of 2010 Matsson went on tour in North America and Europe. The album was followed that same year by an EP,
Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird, which also got good reviews. The EP was released through the iTunes Store in September, and in November was published on CD, LP and MP3. The album consists of five songs, all written for
The Wild Hunt; "Like the Wheel" the conclusion of many of Matsson's gigs, and "The Dreamer", was the first recording on which he plays electric guitar.
The Wild Hunt garnered Matsson several award nominations. In 2011, he was nominated in the category "Best Male Artist" in
the Grammis Awards, the Swedish equivalent of the American
Grammy Awards, but lost to
Håkan Hellström. Matsson was also nominated in the category "pop" in the 2011 P3 Gold Awards, but lost to Malmö indie pop band This Is Head. In February 2011, Matsson won the Manifest Award in the "singer/songwriter" category; he was also nominated in the "live" category, lost to
Robyn. On 5 April 2011, Matsson participated in the BBC's program,
Later... with Jools Holland, where he performed the songs "King of Spain" and "Love Is All". In June of the same year, Matsson's debut EP, The Tallest Man on Earth, was reissued with the previously unreleased track "In the Pockets" exclusive to the vinyl edition of the reissue. In July, he released the single "Weather of a Killing Kind" as part of the 2011 Adult Swim Singles program. In August 2011, Matsson had contributed to the soundtrack of the Swedish drama film
En gång om året (English: Once a Year), along with the
Idiot Wind. The film premiered at the
Gothenburg Film Festival on 29 January 2012 and had a theatrical release on 17 May 2013. On 27 January 2012, Matsson took part in the Swedish
TV game show, På spåret where he, backed by a studio band, performed two cover songs:
Thin Lizzy's "Dancing in the Moonlight" and
Cornelis Vreeswijk's "En Fattig Trubadur" (English: A Poor Troubadour). In February of that year, he re-released "King of Spain" as 12" vinyl for the event
Record Store Day. the album was limited to 2000 copies.
''There's No Leaving Now'' (2012–2013) On 12 June 2012 (June 11 in the UK), Matsson released his third studio album as The Tallest Man on Earth, ''
There's No Leaving Now'', on
Dead Oceans. The album was recorded by Matsson himself in his home studio in Dalarna during the latter part of 2011 and early 2012. At the same time, Matsson released
1904 b/w Cycles, a 7" LP of his song "1904" as well his cover of the song "Cycles," written by Gayle Caldwell and
made famous by Frank Sinatra. He has also covered this song in live performances. Along with the album, Matsson announced a summer tour throughout Europe and the United States including two gigs in Sweden (at the
Södra Teatern (English: Southern Theatre) in
Stockholm) and a performance at the
Newport Folk Festival in
Newport, Rhode Island. Matsson also toured in Europe in October 2012. On 28 January 2013, Matsson took part in a benefit concert for the American musician
Jason Molina, who did not have health insurance and, consequently, was in debt after a hospital stay. The concert took place at the Södra Teatern (English: Southern Theatre) in
Stockholm, where Matsson played alongside, among others, I'm Kingfisher and
Idiot Wind. Molina died on 16 March 2013.
Dark Bird Is Home (2015) Matsson's fourth studio album as The Tallest Man on Earth,
Dark Bird Is Home, was released on 12 May 2015 on
Dead Oceans. The album was largely inspired by Matsson's divorce from
Amanda Bergman as well as the death of a close family member, and its more elaborate instrumentation represented a musical shift from previous albums. Following its release, Matsson performed—with a full band—at several festivals, including the
Roskilde Festival in 2015 and the
Edmonton Folk Music Festival in 2016.
''I Love You. It's a Fever Dream.'' (2019) On 4 February 2019, Matsson revealed that a new album would be released in 2019. In late February 2019, he revealed that his new album, now titled ''
I Love You. It's a Fever Dream.'', would be released sometime in April. He also released the first single, "The Running Styles of New York" the same day. The second single, "I'm a Stranger Now" was released on 27 March. The album was released on April 19 2019. Matsson's song
It Will Follow the Rain from his
eponymous EP was featured in a 2019 commercial for the
Infiniti QX50 automobile.
Too Late for Edelweiss (2022) On 19 September 2022, Matsson announced a new album of covers. It was released later that week on 23 September 2022 and includes covers of songs from
The National and
Bon Iver, among others. The album's title,
Too Late for Edelweiss, is a reference to the album
För sent för Edelweiss by Swedish singer
Håkan Hellström, the title track of which is the first song covered on the album.
Henry St. (2023) On 1 February 2023, Matsson revealed that a new album titled
Henry St. would be released on 14 April 2023.
Henry St. is the first of Mattson's albums recorded in a band setting. The announcement of the album was followed by the release of the single "Every Little Heart". On 19 April, five days after the album's release, Pitchfork gave the album a 6.0, praising the instrumentals and full-band sound but saying that the writing was "just bad". Writing for
No Depression, John Amen concluded that "While Matsson’s latest set occasionally loses traction, it certainly includes its memorable moments, most of which reiterate the confessional pitch and rougher vocal stylings of his earlier work." ==Musical style==