The Tallest Man on Earth, Royal Albert Hall

Kristian Matsson has been performing as The Tallest Man on Earth for a decade, and to mark this anniversary in style, our favourite Swedish troubadour is due to play the Royal Albert Hall on June 21.

A songwriter of genuine distinction, Matsson released his full-length debut in 2008. A collection of howling-and-picking acoustic offerings, Shallow Grave owed much to the ‘60s American folk revival and the Greenwich Village scene in particular. Since then, his songs have grown a little grander, yet the sense of closeness between Matsson and his guitar endures: almost claustrophobic in its fluid intensity.

Matsson’s most recent outing Dark Bird is Home finds him in fine form. The prevailing mood here is one of bittersweet nostalgia. Memories, fondnesses and regrets wrap themselves around tumbling guitar arpeggios, haunted by understated strings. Sometimes, the music is outright mournful; sometimes, melancholy lies beneath rather bouncier compositions. But these songs are never anything less than deeply felt and expertly crafted.