Matt Pond PA has made a career of making records that embody every season, and with the release of the new video for “A Spark” and the announcement of a support tour for upcoming album Still Summer, out Aug. 11 via his own 131 Records, he’s setting his sights for brighter days and pushing the summer into mid-Sept.
The Philadelphia singer-songwriter has a whole new group of players on the record, including Laura Stevenson (Bomb The Music Industry!), Laura Burhenn (The Mynabirds), Caroline Reese and Anya Marina. Along with the customary new faces comes frequent collaborators Chris Hansen, Shawn Alpay, Mel Guerison and Kyle Kelly-Yahner for the project’s twelfth — and ultimately final — album under the Matt Pond PA name.
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With the arrival of the video for “A Spark,” Pond has prepared an appropriate finale, distilling the appeal of the almost 20-year long project with melancholic visuals that superimpose an upside-down, table-dwelling partygoer with a relaxing road trip through the woods.
“The video was intended to convey pure clarity within social chaos — the recognition of another human being, upside-down in a smoke-filled room filled with strangers,” Pond tells Billboard.
The dichotomy of finding clarity in the throes of a party matches the sound that has come to define matt pond PA: a frenetic rush coupled with his subdued tenderness. However, it’s the unexpected pairing of visuals that captures the insight that Pond is aiming to convey.
“It’s believing in the beauty of a stranger who disappears forever after the keg is kicked — the face in the crowd that for an unsettling moment turns the world askew in delirious bliss,” Pond says. “Hope and regret are sitting side by side, sipping whiskey on a dilapidated train trestle in the back of my mind.”
Although this will mark the final release from matt pond PA, there are hints that Still Summer will be left open-ended for revisiting later on. This will not be the last you will see of Pond himself, as he’s said to be working on music beyond the PA name, as well as taking Still Summer on the road for his newly announced tour dates this Sept. and Oct.
Catch the video for “A Spark” and check out the dates below.
Sept. 21 — Lancaster, PA @ Tellus 360
Sept. 22 — Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall
Sept. 23 — Hamden, CT @ The Outer Space
Sept. 24 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Sept. 25 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Night Bazaar
Sept. 28 — Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
Sept. 29 — Columbus, OH @ Ace Of Cups
Sept. 30 — Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
Oct. 01 — Chicago, IL @ Schubas
Oct. 02 — St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
Oct. 04 — Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel
Oct. 05 — Iowa City, IA @ The Mill
Oct. 06 — St. Louis, MO @ The Firebird
Oct. 07 — Dallas, TX @ Double Wide Bar
Oct. 08 — San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
Oct. 09 — Austin, TX @ The Sidewinder
Oct. 12 — Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn
Oct. 13 — Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor
Oct. 14 — Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle