Whatever a ‘typical’ Matthew Ryan record is, this isn’t one of them. Everything from his previous and prolific catalogue is here, from his fragile-whisper of a vocal and Springsteen/Strummer hybrid ear for a tune, through to the electronic arrangements that set Dear Lover (the forebear to this) slightly to one side of his previous endeavours. This new one contains everything essential to his career to date (not least his ambient Like New Years’ Day EP release with Hammock), reinventing each component to create a whole new dimension to his output. Each song really does feel like a scene from the same movie viewed from many different perspectives.Spiritually (and ever-so-slightly musically) this is sharing the same path as Greg Dulli’s Twilight Singers, with a similar sense of otherworldly longing and that undefinable something that could be, but isn’t quite regret (possibly ruefulness, my thesaurus has gone walkies) and that is expressed pretty much starkly throughout, especially during the dark latter stages. But like Dulli’s music, this is not without patches of light or the promise of redemption. Instead, like any good film, light and shade are used to accentuate and compliment each other, as well as help to put the listener through the emotional wringer several times during the hour that it plays out.
