Matt Pond PA wants to soundtrack my whole shimmering winter

A few weeks ago I was loitering in a gigantic record store in Denver, and I noticed a Winter Songs EP from NYC band Matt Pond PA. Originally released in 2005, the EP caught my attention because of a cover of Neutral Milk Hotel’s “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea” alongside sparkling original compositions and creative reworkings of songs by Lindsay Buckingham, Richard Thompson and Neil Young.

In The Aeroplane Over The Sea – Matt Pond PA

I’d only heard a few Matt Pond PA songs before that little find (I love the icy crystalline “Brooklyn Stars” on my New York City mixtape), but my new EP has been on repeat in my car as a perfect soundtrack these last few weeks as fall decides whether it wants to hold its ground or surrender to colder nights and hard whirling snowflakes.

In a happy double dose of a good new discovery, tonight I got this nice little note:

Hello,

As a preamble to the American tradition of Thanksgiving, we are giving away a batch of completely new songs in form of a digital EP called The Freeep.

To accompany this gift of goodwill is a brand new video for “People Have A Way” by the incredibly talented Ed Lowther.

We owe our existence to our fans and your act of listening. We give our thanks!

-matt pond PA

First Light – Matt Pond PA

The new collection follows the same format of subtle, numbered instrumental soundscapes interlaced with well-crafted tunes, although this time my cover-radar doesn’t detect anyone else’s songs in the mix. Download the whole new EP here and listen to it all this long weekend.