Matt's been around as an indie rock artist for a long time, and this 2016 album is actually his second offering of "winter music" after 2004's Winter Songs EP, which featured covers of Lindsey Buckingham's "Holiday Road," Richard and Linda Thompson's "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight," Neil Young's "Winterlong," and Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the See." This time around, everything is original material. "The Glow" opens up on a folky note evoking children playing in the run-up to the holiday, "Fotzepolitic" uses the guitar figure from "2000 Miles" to great effect on a song that's otherwise unrelated to that classic tune, "Force of Nature" is a full-on rocker, and "Whoa," repeated quite a bit as the chorus, is an impressionistic lyrical take on sled riding. The banjos are brought out for the ballad "Dirty Looks," and acoustic folk is the approach on "Used to Be." That leaves the title song, an impressively orchestrated number that relates daily life in the last season of the year. The rest of the album is short instrumentals. This is a fine album, and though it may not work for you as holiday music, some of the songs may fit as selections on your holiday playlists.
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