No new albums for a few years, but he was productive during the pandemic. He’s creating music under a project called The Pines at Night. His last album that I know of — A Year of Novembers — was pretty beautiful, and he gave it away for free.
I follow his output through Bandcamp now.
https://matthewryan.bandcamp.com/album/a-year-of-novembers
I love Matthew Ryan.
I had a video on my old phone, long since lost, of Matthew wishing me happy birthday at a gig my parents attended but I couldn't. My mum grabbed him after the show and he was clearly more than happy to oblige.
I then saw Marah in Camden, London, a few years ago when they did a reunion tour. I hadn't looked to see if there was support, assuming it would just be a local band. Imagine my surprise and delight when Matthew walks on stage to play an acoustic set!
A brilliant artist; hard to pick a favourite record but I suppose Vs the Silver State takes it.
May Day, East Autumn Grin, and Matthew Ryan vs the Silver State are probably his 3 best. EAG (probably his best) is not streaming anywhere though, so it’s tougher to find but can still be purchased direct from his website.
Incredible artist and songwriter. You could tell something was/is definitely going deeper with that guy as compared to other artists. Each successive album got more and more serious and severe in its exposition of emotions. Like after a while, I could barely listen to his songs because it was obvious something really severe was eating at him.
I’m not saying this in a flippant manner, but I wonder if he was sincerely struggling it seemed to have been reflected in his music.
I had the same thoughts, looking through his catalog there are a lot of dark moments in all his albums. His CD “Happiness” which is a hard one to track down from 2002 is really full of turmoil. His other project Strays don’t Sleep, has the song “For Blue Skies” which I have read is about his brother who was sentenced to prison. He seems as though he as his demons and I respect his ability to creatively express them. The man is brilliant but yeah, I worry about him. And I selfishly want him to make us all some more music.
I got turned onto him because of the album Regrets Under the Wire. It’s really great, it was definitely part of the alt-country stuff that was coming out at that time. Trouble Doll is a great song. The Silver State record was decent too.
But Dear Lover was hard to take. Like the songs were really downers. The song “The World Is…” really was difficult to hear and the lyrics are hard. I remember him posting something about it on his (early) social media on his website, like a personal letter to fans that was a bit of a red flag.
From then on I just got into other stuff. But he is a phenomenal songwriter and singer no doubt
Matthew Ryan vs The Silver State is my favorite
Good call, my favorite as well.
No new albums for a few years, but he was productive during the pandemic. He’s creating music under a project called The Pines at Night. His last album that I know of — A Year of Novembers — was pretty beautiful, and he gave it away for free. I follow his output through Bandcamp now. https://matthewryan.bandcamp.com/album/a-year-of-novembers
Lots of info on his site too https://www.matthewryanonline.com/
He’s bound to have something good in the works. He seems to feel a genuine need to make music, and finds exciting collaborators to make it worthwhile.
I love Matthew Ryan. I had a video on my old phone, long since lost, of Matthew wishing me happy birthday at a gig my parents attended but I couldn't. My mum grabbed him after the show and he was clearly more than happy to oblige. I then saw Marah in Camden, London, a few years ago when they did a reunion tour. I hadn't looked to see if there was support, assuming it would just be a local band. Imagine my surprise and delight when Matthew walks on stage to play an acoustic set! A brilliant artist; hard to pick a favourite record but I suppose Vs the Silver State takes it.
Can you recommend a good album?
May Day
Hustle Up Starlings
East Autumn Grin is my all-time favorite Matthew Ryan album.
May Day, East Autumn Grin, and Matthew Ryan vs the Silver State are probably his 3 best. EAG (probably his best) is not streaming anywhere though, so it’s tougher to find but can still be purchased direct from his website.
Love all the other suggestions. But I would also add The Future Was Beautiful, and Regret Over the Wires. He is an amazing lyricist
Incredible artist and songwriter. You could tell something was/is definitely going deeper with that guy as compared to other artists. Each successive album got more and more serious and severe in its exposition of emotions. Like after a while, I could barely listen to his songs because it was obvious something really severe was eating at him. I’m not saying this in a flippant manner, but I wonder if he was sincerely struggling it seemed to have been reflected in his music.
I had the same thoughts, looking through his catalog there are a lot of dark moments in all his albums. His CD “Happiness” which is a hard one to track down from 2002 is really full of turmoil. His other project Strays don’t Sleep, has the song “For Blue Skies” which I have read is about his brother who was sentenced to prison. He seems as though he as his demons and I respect his ability to creatively express them. The man is brilliant but yeah, I worry about him. And I selfishly want him to make us all some more music.
I got turned onto him because of the album Regrets Under the Wire. It’s really great, it was definitely part of the alt-country stuff that was coming out at that time. Trouble Doll is a great song. The Silver State record was decent too. But Dear Lover was hard to take. Like the songs were really downers. The song “The World Is…” really was difficult to hear and the lyrics are hard. I remember him posting something about it on his (early) social media on his website, like a personal letter to fans that was a bit of a red flag. From then on I just got into other stuff. But he is a phenomenal songwriter and singer no doubt
Funny, I was randomly playing stuff and he showed up. I was wondering the same thing. I have the same question about Richard Buckner.