Ryan Vail: Distorted Shadows – Derry musician on an electronic odyssey

His debut album was a loose concept album based around a 90-year-old piano that was a family heirloom, and his previous collaborative work has included a sea-themed record with fellow Northern Irish songwriter Ciaran Lavery. For his second solo effort, Derry's Ryan Vail is unshackling himself from motifs and letting his muse run free. Largely inspired by the travails of trying to be a true artist in the cutthroat music industry, this collection is a mixed bag of experimental electronica. When it works, his willingness to push the envelope – as heard on the clubby burble of Inside, the metallic pop of Moonlight and the intense ambient warp of Shadows, coupled with Vail's murmured vocals – hits the sweet spot. At other times, it sounds somewhat cluttered and laboured, the noisy scuffle of Breaking Minds lacking the gentle deftness of other tracks. The best songs are the ones with moments that catch you off-guard, like the unexpected rush of lush strings midway through Night Moves and the poignant, palate-cleansing melancholia of piano composition Distorting. An admirable attempt at capturing something singular, but you feel that Vail is still in pursuit of his magnum opus.

[ ryanvail.com ]