On his debut album Bank On The Funeral, Matt Maeson uses his deeply incisive songwriting to explore the tension between light and dark in his own life. The album redefines the limits of the classic singer/songwriter's sensibility and shapes a sound that's richly textured and gracefully experimental. And with his soulful vocal presence, Maeson again reveals the raw-nerve vulnerability that prompted Time to praise him as "never afraid to investigate his past and his demons, resulting in songs that are clear-eyed in their honesty and raw around the edges."

Centered on Maeson's candid storytelling and gritty poetry, Bank On The Funeral takes its title from its closing track: a quietly hypnotic number written for a beloved uncle, who was murdered when Maeson was six-years-old. Throughout Maeson brings a similar courage to his songwriting, imbuing every track with an often-brutal self-awareness. On opener "I Just Don't Care That Much," he fires off a litany of confessions brilliantly offsetting all that heavy-hearted deliberation with his bright melodies and upbeat rhythms. Later, on the fast-paced and horn-laced "Legacy," Maeson's spirited and sometimes-howled vocals relay some borrowed wisdom about self-salvation.

But for songs like "The Mask," the album shifts into moodier and more darkly ethereal terrain, a potent backdrop to his gently urgent vocal performance. One of the most arresting tracks on Bank On The Funeral, "Beggar's Song" begins in hushed guitar tones and softly pleading vocals, then unfolds into a stubbornly hopeful epic with gospel-like intensity.