For 20 solid years, the Swedish folk musician Kristian Matsson has been releasing records while calling himself the Tallest Man On Earth. I should be used to it by now. I am not. That stage name is supposed to be ironic. Matsson is not tall at all. He is certainly not the tallest man on Earth. (I'm not the tallest man on Earth, either. Google tells me that that distinction currently belongs to the 8'3" Turkish gentleman Sultan Kösen. I am merely the tallest man in rock criticism.) Anyway! The false Tallest Man On Earth has a new album on the way, and he'd like you to know about it.
Kristian Matsson recorded his upcoming LP Just Beyond Endless Mountain after returning to Dalarna, the place in the central Swedish countryside where he grew up. Whereas Matsson's music has long been influenced by American folk and blues, he made Just Beyond Endless Mountain after rediscovering the fiddle and the traditional music of Sweden itself. In a press release, he says:
Somewhere along the way, I'd developed this immature aversion to the whole cultural inheritance I grew up with. But now, I live here again. I've read an incredible amount — not just about the music, but about how people actually lived in the old days. I think that's part of why this record feels more like me than anything I've made before. This album really comes from somewhere.
"Colors," the song that Matsson released earlier this year, is on Just Beyond Endless Mountain. So is "Deliver Me From Trying," the raw but polished single that he's sharing today. And hey, look at that, he got Anton Corbijn to shoot the album cover and the press photo. Below, check out the "Deliver Me From Trying Video," along with the album tracklist and the dates for the upcoming Tallest Man On Earth tour.
TRACKLIST:
01 "The Wildest Of His Dreams"
02 "Colors"
03 "We Got The Pony"
04 "Scully, It’s Me"
05 "Just Beyond Endless Mountain"
06 "Overboda"
07 "Deliver Me From Trying"
08 "Times"
09 "The Forest Keeper"
10 "In The Silver Wire Up The Hill"
11 The Village"
TOUR DATES:
8/26 - Dublin, Ireland @ National Concert Hall
8/27 - Cork, Ireland @ Live At St. Luke’s
8/28 - Bangor, UK – Open House Festival 2026
8/29 - Kilkenny, Ireland @ Cathedral Church of St. Canice & Round Tower
9/12 - Stockholm, Sweden @ SuperTraditional Festival
10/15 - Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom
10/16 - Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
10/17 - Washington DC @ Lincoln Theatre
10/18 - Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
10/20 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
10/21 - Boston, MA @ Royale
10/23 - Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
10/24 - Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark
10/25 - Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark
10/27 - Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
10/28 - Maquoketa, IA @ Codfish Hollow Barnstormers
10/29 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
10/30 - St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
11/01 - Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theatre
11/02 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Commonwealth
11/04 - Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall
11/05 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
11/06 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore
11/08 - Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
11/10 - San Francisco, CA @ Palace of Fine Arts
11/11 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
11/12 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
11/14 - San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park Theatre
11/15 - Phoenix, AZ @ Musical Instrument Museum
Just Beyond Endless Mountain is out 10/9 on Anti-.
