Matchbox Twenty Where the Light Goes LP

Multi-platinum, superstar hit making pop-rockers Matchbox Twenty's fifth studio album, Where the Light Goes, was produced by Gregg Wattenberg with Paul Doucette and Kyle Cook. The 2023 album finds the band surging with energy for another great batch of real, relevant, and relatable songs, including the single "Wild Dogs (Running in a Slow Dream)" and "No Other Love," which features harmonies by Amanda Shires.

It would have been easy enough for the band to tap into '90s nostalgia, lay down some riff-laden anthemic pop-rock and call it a day. Instead the quartet delivered a shimmering record that feels alive.

Where the Light Goes [feels] bright and optimistic, a record full of big emotions and grand gestures, an album where intimate thoughts are projected upon a widescreen. As Matchbox Twenty always gravitated toward oversized music, this might not seem like a big change - they still convey a sense of urgency through arrangements, not rhythms - but as Where the Light Goes rolls on, the cumulative effect of the gleaming surfaces and the gilded hooks feel sunny. If it's not quite buoyant, that's because Matchbox Twenty are too earnest to be effervescent; they work hard at sounding light. Such sincerity is ingratiating, particularly coming from a group of old veterans like Matchbox Twenty: as glossy and polished as Where the Light Goes is, it doesn't seem like the result of a corporate boardroom, it feels like the work of a band united in purpose.