Yellow Coat

Recorded with producer Alex Newport (Death Cab for Cutie, Frank Turner), Yellow Coat is singer/songwriter Matt Costas second album for Dangerbird Records and sixth overall. A warm, often bleary, reverb-washed record, it features performances from touring musicians and friends, but its inspiration was distinctly solitary. Somewhat atypical of a breakup album, the resulting dozen songs look broadly at loves ability to both comfort and devastate. More in line with expectations is a melancholic cloud that sits over even livelier tracks, like the vintage Motown-inspired (and likely Richard Swift-influenced) Savannah. Upbeat and uptempo but with heartbroken lyrics, the tracks echoing atmospheres showcase a melodic bassline that cuts through rattling drum kit, haunted backing vocals, honking baritone sax, and even Costas raspy lead falsetto. Like much of Yellow Coat, its a feel-good tune despite lines like the repeated I loved you like my own though I never never never could make you mine. Elsewhere, Slow recalls Sam Cooke, not only with its nostalgic vocal melody, but with its slow-dance, triplet bass-and-piano rhythms, and dreamy, atmospheric depths. Even the minimalist ballad Last Love Song has Costa and his acoustic guitar accompanied by a ghostly backing choir, lending a hymn-like quality to a song that was written as an anniversary gift, only to have its lyrics updated for the album. Yellow Coat closes on a likewise-bittersweet note with the pairing of the brightly folky, midtempo When the Avalanche Comes (You can make it but don’t ask why/Some live and some fall and some die) and So I Say Goodbye, a musically jaunty, piano-based track with a summery melody and lyrics that …say goodbye to you/Just a slide show in my mind/Watch it as it flickers by on by. Together, they make for a solid set equally well-suited for summer drives or broken hearts on the mend. ~ Marcy Donelson