Press
“Wooden Cave -- easily one of the best, if not the best album of this horrifying year so far -- does what so many of the best albums do...Matt Longo isn't immune to the horrors of the world, but he knows how to wrap them up in gorgeous, lush, sophisticated songs.”
- Chris Ingalls, PopMatters (9/10)
“Wooden Cave is on par with the albums that inspired it: Leonard Cohen's dark backroom soliloquies and the more bittersweet moments of Nilsson's drifty pop. It's a fantastic debut with songs that would be just as strong played alone on a piano as they are in their complexly arranged forms.”
- Fred Thomas, AllMusic (★★★★)
"A warm, rich, and intimate chamber pop album that revolves around life, love, death, and dreams."
- Jen Dan, The Big Takeover
“At once hard to describe, but easy to grab onto…immensely satisfying. Thin Lear is extremely thoughtful in its combining of the five elements of music: melody, harmony, rhythm, tone color, and form.”
- Kira Grunenberg, American Songwriter
"That Thin Lear album is amazing."
- Robin Hilton, NPR Music's New Music Friday
"A well-crafted set of orchestral pop...a lush sound...with often-dark lyrics of alienation and self-destruction.”
- Don Yates, KEXP
"Thin Lear's sophisticated rock music is tempered with soaring chamber pop accents and an undeniable gift for melody."
- Jes Skolnik, Bandcamp's New & Noteworthy
"Beautifully elegant...delicate and hypnotic."
- Tom Johnson, GoldFlakePaint
"His voice washes over you like a lullaby. It’s an honest portrait of a moment in time, punctuated by the content we lean into to make peace with the turbulence."
- Corinne Osnos, The Wild Honey Pie
“An enigmatic cross between Belle and Sebastian, Wilco, and Ben Folds…a master of his craft…as tasteful as indie rock gets.”
- Zachary Keirstead, Earmilk
"The recordings are rich with musical nuance, conjuring up the insular worlds of Astral Weeks-era Van Morrison, Tim Buckley, and Shuggie Otis."
- The Vinyl District
"One can hear the wit of Randy Newman, the lush arrangements of Harry Nilsson, and the poetic flair of Leonard Cohen."
- PopMatters: Best of 2020
