In 2006, Matthew Blake released his first full-length independent album, "Back As Far As We Can Go," a rough-around-the-edges but passionate collection of optimistic and eminently singable folk/rock songs. In the decade since, Blake found himself battling the urge to retreat from the war of art as he faced new challenges not uncommon to many of us: the loss of a job, the decision to come out to friends and family, the first real love (followed by the first real heartbreak), two cross-country moves, and an inner spiritual conflict that underpinned the entire decade. In "Last of the Lost Boys," Blake overturns all these stones and more, finally making peace with the fear of vulnerability that every artist faces. Blake began his musical recovery in 2014 when he joined forces with rapper Haley Hill and formed Girlboy, an experimental electrohop duo that married Blake's flair for singable melody with Hill's introspective rap verse on their 2015 debut album, "Late Bloomers." Now, with his first solo record in ten years, Blake's more mature songwriting is on full display as he ventures into new sonic territory, a synth-heavy dreampop translation of his unmistakably Americana-esque lyric and melody. In a move that echoes the recent electronic restylings of former folk artists like Mumford and Sons and Joy Williams, Matthew Blake is an Appalachian-bred storyteller expanding his vocabulary with digital sounds that are well-suited to the high range of his emotional vocals. "Last of the Lost Boys" shows us a promising artist wrestling with his reality while shining light on a hope that too often eludes us as we strive to claim our place in an uncertain world.