The Matinees are a boy/girl mood-pop duo from San Francisco, but these days they rarely play as a duo, having somehow convinced an array of their talented friends to play on their songs. Guest musicians may include players of cello, clarinet, cornet, glockenspiel, accordion, viola, violin, piano, trumpet, and banjo, as well as drums and bass guitar. Not all at once.

The style tends toward the quietly intense, pensive and pretty, with interesting harmonies and turns of phrase. It has been pointed out that many of their songs are about sleep.