Reviewed by Stephen Luff

Ryan is a British Columbian living on the Alberta prairies and this is his first solo album. It's a roller coaster of emotions mixed with insight into the world of a musician making his way. Ryan's story telling starts with track one "Holy Golightly" where Ryan is struggling to put shoes on his kids' feet. Other tracks such as "True Love" offers Ryan's insight into love over a driving drum beat while "Sunday Dress (Dead At Dawn)", while not an easy listen with its constant shouting of "Oh my God, what have we done", reflects on life and includes the line "We are the countenance of the Maker", one of several "faith" statements on the album. Ryan's voice is a rough instrument which takes a little getting used to, for example on tracks "Hey Graceful" and "A Red-Eye Lullaby" his voice sounds pretty hoarse. It also should be noted that there is an occasional swear word which may cause difficulties to some listeners, although it is in the context of the struggles of faith in a difficult world. The last two tracks "Glory, Glory" and" Amen" explore the emotions and themes of redemption in a raw context. I enjoyed the album as it tackles difficulties head on and Ryan's songwriting is often first class.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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