Matt Bonner
Signs Of Passing
Stone Circle
Twelve songs of Sting-infused yoga pop from tarot and astrology devotee Matt Bonner, on which lines like “Saturn through the houses / ivied granite ancient runes upon / a comet racing hard against the firmament / you were read to me” become the order of the day. Fair enough, if it hadn’t been for the overdone synthesizers that dominate too much of this album.
Take the song “Gate,” for instance, a lovely slab of rustic pop that starts out great but ends up in this horrible washed-out, pathos-drenched landscape. And elsewhere, there are a few spoken pieces on top of mindnumbingly dull loops or “atmospherics,” that don’t really sit too comfortably among the other tracks on here.
Bonner is at his best when he’s at his most Sting-like, which may or may not scare some of you off. In any case, polished pop songs like “Mirror,” “Desert Heart,” and “Saving Grace” offer proof that Bonner may have something more up his sleeve than mere clichéd karmic pop, and that he may yet appeal to a wider audience as well.
Matt Bonner: http://www.mattbonner.com
