Matt Kivel - Escape from L.A. (2025) [Hi-Res]

Matt Kivel, a former member of the indie band Princeton who subsequently released a series of bleak solo albums, is set to release his eighth studio album, “Escape from L.A.,” on December 12 via Scissor Tail Records. The album is an autobiographical song cycle meticulously detailing Kivel's first 33 years living in Los Angeles, where he grew up. The material, written and re-recorded since 2017 in LA, New York, and Austin, features over 20 collaborators, a string section, and pedal steel guitars, and showcases a renewed lyrical and vocal clarity. The album pairs large-scale city events (earthquake, Twin Towers fall, freeway pile-ups) with intimate, quotidian vignettes (teenage romances, a dying dog, the family's move to LA spurred by his father's casting in The Natural). Throughout his solo career, Kivel has collaborated with artists like Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes) and is scheduled to tour in support of the new, critically lauded record.

Tracklist:
1-1 Matt Kivel - Santa Monica [3:18]
1-2 Matt Kivel - Robert Redford [4:35]
1-3 Matt Kivel - Tidal Wave [4:13]
1-4 Matt Kivel - A Little Mark [2:56]
1-5 Matt Kivel - Laugh at Death [3:19]
1-6 Matt Kivel - Kids [3:57]
1-7 Matt Kivel - Vampire Weekend [3:32]
1-8 Matt Kivel - For The Roses [3:12]
1-9 Matt Kivel - Sapphire Days [4:56]
1-10 Matt Kivel - Some Boys [3:04]
1-11 Matt Kivel - Barbara's Ocean [5:36]