Big Search is the solo project of L.A.-based singer/songwriter Matthew Popieluch who first became known for his work with indie rock band Foreign Born, in the mid-2000s. Though he recorded continuously, Big Search's more experimental, lo-fi acoustic folk more or less languished on the back burner for most of its first decade before Popieluch dug in and began making more cohesive pop-oriented statements like 2014's Role Reversal and 2016's Life Dollars, the latter of which came out via Sony-owned 30th Century Records. His laid-back west coast vibes got even smoother on 2019's Slow Fascination. Popieluch's history as Big Search dates back to his college days in the early 2000s at San Francisco State University where he would record 90-minute cassettes of breezy, somewhat ramshackle West Coast folk on his four-track machine. He recorded his first official Big Search album, Mysticism vs. Classicism, in the garage of a house he shared with his friends Luke Top (Fool's Gold) and Jason Quever (Papercuts). Prior to its release, however, he relocated to Los Angeles to focus on the indie rock band Foreign Born which he had formed with Lewis Pesacov. Mysticism vs. Classicism eventually received a limited release in 2006 on Top's short-lived Grand Gallop label, and while he continued playing shows as Big Search, Foreign Born remained Popieluch's higher-profile project during this period. As Foreign Born wound down at the end of the decade, Popieluch readied his next Big Search venture, the loose and experimental Lay of the Land, which was released in 2010 by the St. Ives label. Over the next several years he remained active in the L.A. scene, occasionally issuing small independent Big Search releases like 2011's "Middle Man"/"Getting Warm" 7" and 2014's Role Reversal album. In 2016, he resurfaced in a big way, signing a major-label deal with Danger Mouse's 30th Century Records and releasing Life Dollars, which saw Big Search shifting toward a dreamier West Coast pop sound. This trend toward fine-tuned arrangements and low-key soft rock continued on 2019's Slow Fascination. ~ Timothy Monger