Matthew Dear's "Black City" can't be found on any map. It's an imaginary metropolis peopled by desperate cases, lovelorn souls, & amoral motives. Matthew Dear, the musician, may live in New York City, but the Matthew Dear of "Black City" inhabits a sound-world unlike any other: a monument to the shadowy side of urban life that bumps & creaks, shudders & wakes up screaming in the middle of the night. Cavernous atmospherics envelop the listener, and strange distortions crackle on the horizon. In "Black City", nothing is at it seems, yet for all of it's foreboding moods, the albums sweeter moments illustrate Matthew Dearʼs growing maturity as a songwriter.