From Matt Pond …
The Ballad Of The Natural Lines (Sonder House) is the follow-up to an album and EP we released as a band called the Natural Lines. We formed a group during the pandemic, centered on the monotony and beauty of basic life, released the music on Bella Union, toured and then switched back to Matt Pond PA.
Returning to my name, I didn’t want to make an album that repeated what we’d already done. I wanted to create something that felt true to how I speak. To reconnect with my first sense of freedom, I started writing as if I were driving—driving in silence, driving with a vengeance, driving with a head full of unwinnable arguments, driving and feeling grateful for such a long career of songs.
More than anything, driving is made for listening to music. Even if you have to lean into the middle of the car to catch the full stereo effect, it’s the place where everything becomes clear: life, death and all the mundane drives during long tours when there’s no phone coverage and all you can do is zone out and stare at the desert.
This is music I loved and listened to as I drove and wrote an album about driving:
Wilco “Impossible Germany”
Let’s agree with a simple premise, a simple truth: If you don’t already love guitar solos, this song will make you love them. And I don’t think any other song captures so many emotions while being so beautifully elusive.
Bnny “Nothing Lasts”
I want to learn how to sing quietly yet with immense power—to blow you away with a whisper. Leonard Cohen could do it, Elliott Smith could do it, Hope Sandoval can do it, Anya Marina can do it, and Jessica Viscius does it here.
Blur “The Narcissist”
It’s wild that Blur keeps making better and better albums. It gives hope to those of us who are no longer 19 to keep searching for songs. With “The Narcissist,” Damon Albarn is both a god and a humble human. Sing along, and you’ll find yourself driving 90, flying without a second thought.
Faye Webster “Suite: Jonny”
I love the character Faye Webster takes on in the spoken part of this song—like some sweetly deranged teenager from the ’50s. Trey Pollard’s arrangements respond to her voice, building into a bittersweet epic. I’ve always loved the narration in the Ink Spots’ music, but it was this song that gave me the courage to try it on “Risky Business.”
The Clientele “Blue Over Blue”
“Blue Over Blue” directly influenced “Little Signs” … a green field on a hillside in New Hampshire with my sister—a simple vision of quiet nobility.
Pretenders “Brass In Pocket”
Chrissie Hynde is the most badass singer I’ve ever met inside my headphones. She makes me want to smoke; she makes me feel dangerous. Let us all commit some victimless crimes, please. Amen.
Big Thief “Shark Smile”
It was a slow build between me and Big Thief. They blindsided me a couple of years ago with how powerful they are as a band and how strong Adrianne Lenker is as a lyricist and frontperson. Then it hit me: They’re dangerous, too!
Slow Pulp “At Home”
This is eternal summer, distilled. Perfect laconic riffs under a twilight lament. It’s vulnerable, it’s sweet—and, somehow, it’s tough. Being uncertain has never felt so free and easy.
Tom Petty “You Don’t Know How It Feels”
The simplicity and rawness of Tom Petty’s music brought me into the cult. But it’s his way of seeing the world—the exact precision of his words—that keeps me worshiping.
Joni Mitchell “Amelia”
I had a metal Amelia Earhart lamp beside my bed growing up. I don’t know where it came from or where it went. The lampshade was a parachute, the lightbulb held aloft by wires; her body and the world formed the base. When I first heard “Amelia,” I wondered if Joni had the same lamp—or if these were my long-lost sisters trying to reach me about the hexagram of the heavens.
Jockstrap “Glasgow”
It took me a few weeks to get past the name and finally press play on I Love You Jennifer B. Once I did, I couldn’t stop listening. These two brilliant musicians write incredible songs with wild production and arrangements. It’s like they’ve mastered the art of exposing themselves completely while laughing at it all.
New Order “Your Silent Face”
I want to be a good person. I want to stay open to my fellow humans and hope for the best. My heart has faith, but the incivility of my fellow drivers leaves nowhere for my dark side to hide. New Order makes space for all the people in my brain: “You’ve caught me at a bad time. So, why don’t you piss off?”
Porches “Do You Wanna”
Anya and I used to sing this as a duet—living-room harmonies that always led to dancing. Heartbreak is Sunday-smooth with Aaron Maine on the cowbell.
Youth Lagoon “Rabbit”
No one sees the world like Trevor Powers sees the world. No one has a voice like Trevor’s voice. I believe there are aliens living among us—and that we are the aliens.
The Replacements “If Only You Were Lonely”
My college girlfriend put this song on a break-up mixtape. It was my introduction to the Replacements. Until years later, I didn’t realize this messed-up, broken band had written some of the best songs ever. I came back to it because the lyrics and the recording are pure and real. They are who they say they are. Nothing beats that.
Some final thoughts on rock ’n’ roll: In my humble opinion, it’s rebellion. It’s not about chasing fortune or fame, nor about seeking approval from critics or the world at large. Rock ’n’ roll is the belief that you, alongside a worthy gang of like-minded misfits, can howl at the stars about breaking free from the demands and constraints of normal society. It’s about standing firm in what you believe, unapologetically, until the very end. Maybe it’s a cliché, maybe it’s a secondhand album I left in a Datsun to warp under the hot sun. But that’s my rock ’n’ roll.
See Matt Pond PA live.
