Matt Costa is a folk artist from the sunny state of California and has released his third album entitled Mobile Chateau. Costa is not exactly an unknown, his critically acclaimed 2008 album Unfamiliar Faces made many peoples ‘best of’ lists for that year, and with his lasted LP, Mobile Chateau he may have a repeat performance. There have been a number of acts to come out with folk albums of note this year and now we have to chalk Costa’s up there along with others like Deer Tick and Jason Boesel.
One thing kept coming to mind the whole time while listen to Costa’s new work: why wasn’t Costa included in the 2009 folk supergroup Monsters of Folk? He’s a folk ‘Monster’ and in the same league as say Matt Ward or Jim James, maybe there was room for only one Matt in the Monsters of Folk or a fifth man would have screwed up the symmetry of the album cover (which was one of the best out of the 2009 and collection of album covers). C’est la vie. Costa’s album title is also having a negative affect ‘people’ when it comes to the use of French word usage in English writing.
Mobile Chateau has a charm and consistency that reminds you of the Fleet Foxes last album but with out all of their signature harmonies. The playful guitar portions create an atmosphere that resounds throughout the album and keeps the whole thing grounded firmly in a place that feels vaguely like post Beatles Americana of the 60s. The nostalgic incantations of this album are most noticeable on the tracks, Can You Tell Me, Witchcraft and Stings of Change.
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