This debut album is very much a DIY affair with fifteen songs making generic platitudes from a first person perspective. Most recommend that spiritual values should be maintained and affirm that friendships are important.
Matthew Ryan is from Cape May, New Jersey. He began song writing in his late teens but spent 35 years as a professional chef instead of pursuing a musical career.
Ryan’s stated aim is to let the song stand on its own”. The trumpet and scat singing on Through Your Life is the only track that departs from a simple voice, guitar and fiddle arrangement.
Such an absence of adornment only works if the lyrics hold up to close scrutiny. This is not the case here as illustrated by weak lines like: ”I fall short of good intent like a legal complaint” (Things That I Got Wrong) and ”Fly away like a bird on a wing, to hear the angels sing” (Branches).
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I would like to report that his album is a triumph but while the mix of folk, blues and jazz is clearly made with passion and dedication, I find it lacking in any true sense of time, place or depth.
Matthew Ryan's bandcamp
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