Queens-based indie folk rock singer-songwriter Thin Lear reveals the title-track to his new full-length album Wooden Cave today. The intricately placed vocals flow alongside strings and piano to narrate the story of a loner; a story more prominent than ever in modern society. The track follows Thin Lear's latest single "Maniacs" that American Songwriter described as "immensely satisfying," both tracks to appear on the new album, which will be released on April 24th by EggHunt Records.
Listen below!
Matt Longo, aka Thin Lear, or the man behind the curtain so to speak, has in the same way as Oz, created an entire world of characters and intricacies that explore human interaction. Longo shares of "Wooden Cave":
"I feel both a painful empathy for, and a great terror of, outcasts. The majority of the songs on the album have outcast narrators. I feel I've always been one, never really fitting in despite my best efforts, and I've slowly come to embrace that and be okay with it. And yet, at this particular moment in time, outcasts have been responsible for some pretty heinous things. So it's not a title I feel I can use proudly for myself anymore. The narrator of 'Wooden Cave' confronts a loner on the edge, basically just ripping him apart: 'If you were desired, loved deeply and true. Do you think it would change the deadliest parts of you?' It's a song against people who weaponize their loneliness, turn it into rage, and point it outward."
The story is one that's all too relatable, and yet often not shared. With this story, Thin Lear makes note of the tendencies for loners to act out, but proposes that instead they look further inside for some piece of heart. In a time fueled by social networking, loneliness can be very terrible and isolating, yet it's something that affects us all. Here, Thin Lear has carefully crafted a social commentary that opens up a dialogue.
The overarching theme of Wooden Cave is one of isolation and insular exploration. He studied 1920's occultist Netta Fornario, and her mysterious death on the end on a tiny island off of Scotland, and then found himself dreaming of her on a consistent basis, often waking with a fleeting image of the woman. As the story goes, Netta had inexplicably left her friends and family in search of magic...and lost everything. After many years of fronting bands, and then releasing several records under his own name, Longo felt an immediate empathy for her, and recognized her story as that of an artist.
Born and raised on Long Island, with years of history in New York, Wooden Cave was recorded amongst various studios across the city. Much like the vastly cultured city of NY, Thin Lear pulls his inspiration from an eclectic history of influence, that ranges from Leonard Cohen, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, to Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman and Sam Cooke, and the leaders of the 70s John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, amongst a handful of others. Thin Lear is best described as an eclectic singer-songwriter with alternative sensibilities. His music delivers a plaintive, sweet vocal with lush, ornate arrangements, and very intricate human stories.
For more information about Thin Lear, connect with him on social media @thinlear or visit his website at thinlear.com. Pre-order Wooden Cave here.
Videos