Jason Matu packs a great deal of existential introspection and commentary on aging and yearning into “The Returning of the Leaves.” On the surface its a countrified rock song but with a wash of melancholic synth throughout that lends the song an expansive mood that pushes the song out of a limited genre. The mood of the song comes across like someone who is missing some or something that is going away for now but will hopefully return just like the cycles of nature. But these days these things aren’t so certain or predictable as they had been for most of living memory. In a later stanza of the song Matu sings about someone going on some kind of mythical journey, an epic adventure of some kind, from the perspective of someone who maybe knows these kinds of escapades himself and the perils involved, drawing upon allusions to The Odyssey and how none of us has forever and only so many more of the returnings of the leaves in this life. Yet it’s not a sad song, just one about inevitabilities and human frailty and the preciousness of the time we have on earth. Listen to “The Returning of the Leaves” on Spotify and follow Jason Matu at the links provided.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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