Rank: 3/5
Bill Ryder-Jones takes listeners on a well-balanced trek through clean chords and winding riffs that display an observant portrait of love in his latest album release, “West Kirby County Primary.”
On the standout track “Wild Roses,” Jones seems to recall a love life of his own, giving breath to the experience of falling in love while remaining distant from a third person view. Soft and collected, his voice croons and muffles itself into a indie bedroom sort of rock, without subscribing itself to a typical pattern or speed.
Slow and enduring organ stabs creep throug the background of “Satellites”, beaming a light and sensitive touch until his guitar solo takes over.
Most of the songs on “West Kirby County Primary” are sun-kissed and pump out a nostalgic quality that channel a saturated state of longing. Overdubs help Ryder-Jones to thicken up the emphasis on his vocals, but in some cases, the absence of lyrics help reveal the tender inner-workings of his instrumentation, allowing his work to take on a deeper artistic quality while having a danceable rhythm.
“Put It Down Before You Break It” sounds like it was recorded in the bathroom pictured on the album cover, and his somewhat stream of consciousness singing feels lazy but fits within the solely acoustic love ballad format of the song.
While Ryder-Jones seems to be fixated on this quality of work, it doesn’t seem to truly benefit or directly emphasis his better passages of music and feels off from the more composed songs on the album.
In contrast with “You Can’t Hide A Light With The Dark” he seems brittle and forced. His style of playing and writing works better with a full band behind him, eliminating the basic sappiness from his acoustic songs.
As a whole, “West Kirby County Primary” could have benefitted from a restriction of un-original sounding acoustic tracks and sophomoric lyrics.