Matthew Ryan - I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall

Matthew Ryan - Prolific and praised under-the-radar singer/songwriter manages no mean feat in keeping not only his sound but his perspective fresh and vibrant on the thirteen tracks making up his thirteenth album...Unlike last year's more personal, relationship-focused gem Dear Lover, this affecting new project is an open-heart surgery on the everyday, sometimes cosmic struggles we all face every day // Release: I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall (August 23 CD/Out not digitally) // Sounds like: if Tom Waits had met up with The Blue Nile it might sound something like this...electro-beat ambient soundscapes, shadowy atmospheric production and Ryan's 3am rasp shaken (not stirred) and served on the rocks...

Quote: "Instead of looking inward, this album communicates my take on what it feels like to be human right now. These songs aren't autobiographical, they're a hybrid of sorts, they were born in conversations with friends, watching the news, documentaries and reading and experiencing as much as I can." // What we like: beneath the twinkling electronics, dark synth washes and foreboding beats, I Recall Standing's diverse melodic themes and structures peer out, eyes glowing...the cool sheen of "The Spinning Room" feels somehow warmer with Ryan's ash-covered voice..."Summer In the South" is stripped to the waist, basically just a relentless time signature pounded loud behind Ryan's wisp of a melody..."Song For A Friend" works as a Waits-ian piano ballad of immense melancholy and regret -- beauty found in it's own rawness...

Matthew Ryan - "The Spinning Room" (from I Recall Standing...)

Matthew Ryan - "Song For A Friend" (from I Recall Standing...)

Stream the full album (and buy direct) here. Photos: Scott Simontacchi