This came out in 2000 — or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
One online bio I just read about The The leader Matt Johnson referred to his band in the past tense.
You can’t blame them; it’s been seven years since the snail-paced artist’s last album of original material, and five since his previous CD, the Hank Williams cover set Hanky Panky. Well, Johnson has finally returned. And his new disc, NakedSelf, is an aptly titled, soul-bearing return to form. Continuing his evolution from the dance-floor popster of Soul Mining to the dark, rootsy balladeer of Dusk, Johnson — now on Trent Reznor’s imprint — walks a dirt road of desperation here, relating bleakly tender tales of sorrow and bitterness in a sampler, sequencer and synthesizer-free world of jangling country-folk and moody, screeching guitar-rock. It’s an album that bears repeated listening. Good thing: After all, who knows when there will be a followup?
