Matthew Sweet

Without warning, this consummate artist just may have made the album of his life, not by consciously trying to recapture the brilliance of his three milestones, Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun, but simply by following his big heart, while hot-wiring the process between inspiration and execution so that there’s no longer any distance between them. With tongue only partly in cheek, Matthew describes the new record’s sound as "power-pop-folk-rock-psychedelic-melodic-singer-songwriter-type stuff." That turns out to be an accurate general description, but the real intrigue is in the details. By turns achingly melodic and drivingly visceral, Sunshine Lies swirls with relatable emotion and bad-ass attitude, seamlessly incorporating the artist’s expansive aesthetic from one end (poetry) to the other (noise).

On Sunshine Lies, Sweet intermixes his distinctive brand of shimmering folk rock ("Byrdgirl," "Daisychain," "Around You Now") and signature goosebump ballads ("Feel Fear," "Pleasure Is Mine," "Back of My Mind"), with the album’s primary impulse, what he refers to as "the crazy songs." These are heady, arrangement-based pieces where anything goes in terms of tone, texture and performance—the mindblowing "Time Machine," the balls-to-the-wall "Room to Rock," the brawny "Flying" and the Who-like "Let’s Love."

As usual, Sweet (guitars, bass, keyboards, Mellotron, lead and harmony vocals), who produced and mixed the LP at his own Lolina Green Studios in L.A., is surrounded by his longstanding triumvirate of guitar aces: Richard Lloyd (Television), Ivan Julian (Richard Hell & the Voidoids) and everybody’s go-to guy, Greg Leisz (six-string, 12-string and slide guitars, pedal steel). The only other player on the record is equally familiar: drummer Ric Menck (Velvet Crush), who anchors every one of the new album’s 13 tracks. Additionally, Susanna Hoffs and Matthew’s wife Lisa sing backup vocals on the title cut.