It’s possible to pinpoint the moment when Kristian Matsson, the man who records under the alias of The Tallest Man on Earth, started to expand his musical outlook. It was on The Wild Hunt’s last track, “Kids on the Run,” a song that’s not so much conspicuous for its melody or chord phrasing, but for the mere introduction of piano into the Matsson soundscape. From that point onward, this wandering minstrel of sorts (with numerous Bob Dylan comparisons to boot) was looking past his acoustic guitar to make music: from his use of electric guitar on “The Dreamer” later that year to the subtle ambiance and piano playing on 2012’s There’s No Leaving Now. Three years later, Dark Bird Is Home (Dead Oceans) boasts string arrangements, percussion, woodwinds, and a full-band performing in unison.

Dark Bird showcases the same sort of songwriting we’ve always heard from Matsson and his skill of not trying too hard to find a melody. Thematically, he continues to balance a sense of yearning with an omnipresent easy-going attitude; “Beginners” would be stylistically indistinguishable from anything on Shallow Grave if it wasn’t for its crisper production and “Singers” approximates The Wild Hunt’s “Thousand Ways,” sans a woodwinds fadeout. Elsewhere, though, Matsson embellishes Dark Bird to the point that it’s a new experience, and not a wholly positive one. There are a few moments where the approach works well enough, as on “Fields of Our Home” and lead single “Sagres,” but the album is by-and-large a jumbled mess. The chorus of voices on the refrains of “Darkness of the Dream” and “Seventeen” seems more befitting of an adult contemporary record, and the questionable use of clarinet on “Timothy” doesn’t help matters. “Little Nowhere Towns” is a peculiar brand of not-quite-Elton-John piano ballad that feels on the verge of something great melodically, but only plateaus. The record seems to be an attempt to do something “mature,” but it never coalesces. Dark Bird isn’t made up of songs that are uninspired or filler—in fact, it’s just the opposite. It suffers for its excess and for lacking the grace of its predecessors.