The Tallest Man on Earth debuts in Beaver Creek

Kristian Matsson delivers an energetic show — darting around stage with his long guitar, stretching and gyrating — as The Tallest Man on Earth, along with special guest Dead Horses, Thursday at the Vilar Performing Arts Center.

“His recent, 2023, release encompasses his wide range of sounds from old-timey folk tunes to grand piano ballads,” said Ruthie Hamrick, marketing director for the Vail Valley Foundation, the nonprofit putting on the show. “He brings energy, emotion and, for this performance, his full band. His critically acclaimed, poetic songs continue to excite and impress the world of indie folk music.”

His latest album, “Henry St.,” emerged from the darkness of the pandemic, when he left New York City to return to his farm in Sweden and “manically” grew vegetables in his garden. Unable to tour, he lost his imagination, he said, only able to write about the darkness.

But inspiration returned near the end of 2021, when he began playing live shows again.

“When I’m in motion, I can focus on my instinct, have my daydreams again,” he said, adding that he started writing “like a madman” again, resulting in 20 songs he decided to record in 10 days.

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His most personal record to date includes vivid images, dreamlike passages, wit and world-weary observations. The theme: How to be a person in this world. For example, the first track talks about how people are told they should strive for success, but when they achieve it, it doesn’t solve anything. In it, Matsson instead recommends thinking about the motivation behind actions.

“It’s the low point and the turnaround,” he said about the title track. “The other songs are a reminder that I will always be a stubborn optimist, even at the darkest of times.”

The album contains the energy and collaboration of creating with his bandmates and friends, rather than his typical DIY approach. For instance, Matsson had planned to record that title track as a solo piece, until keyboardist Phil Cook walked into the studio on the first day.

“I had Phil basically hanging over my shoulders at the piano while we were playing, and then he recorded it,” he said. “He improvised that beautiful outro. When he did, our jaws dropped — I was in tears.”

Likewise, Nick Sanborn of Sylvan Esso produced the record, jamming with Matsson to help establish a tone.

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“Nick is so emotionally intelligent, and we share an almost childlike joy in things that can happen with music,” he said. “He makes the songs come truly alive by keeping the performances and the humanity in — the kind of stuff that just happens during the sessions.”

Overall, the result of Matsson’s yearning for social exchange during the pandemic resulted in the warm and sprawling sound of “Henry St.”

“(The other musicians) opened everything up and understood what the songs that I’d written needed: sounds that I couldn’t ever have thought of or created myself,” he said about the creative collaboration. “It’s the most playful, most me album yet because it covers so many of the different noises in my head.”

Ultimately, his isolation throughout the pandemic brought him new-found peace.

“Having been away from it taught me that making music and performing is what I’m doing for the rest of my life, and I’m so grateful for it,” he said. “It has given me new confidence and playfulness. This is what I do. It’s unconditional.”