Summer Dress recalls Happy/Sad-era Tim Buckley at his most breezy and jazz-inflected, the sultry The High Road echoes Nick Drake’s virtuoso guitar lines, double bass and delicate vocals, while Hide In The Roses pays tribute to Bert Jansch’s brooding spare folk.Įlsewhere, highlights abound on a consistently excellent set blessed with a plethora of satisfyingly winsome melodies, with the likes of the title track and slow-burning Same Minds being particularly worthy efforts. Like its precursor, this sophomore release is deeply rooted in the musical traditions of the late 60s, but while it would be hard to accuse him of pushing too many boundaries, the influences are both tastefully chosen and utilised with consummate skill. “Primrose Green” feels like a throwback to a different era and as Walker continues to produce albums, hopefully he can build upon his sound rather than just looking back for inspiration.Chicago native Ryley Walker has been perfecting his anglophile brand of fingerpicking acoustic folk since 2007, a clutch of promising early cassette releases presaging 2013’s well-received debut All Kinds Of You. Suddenly the song takes off in folk-metal jam and reaches a fever pitch of whirling guitar and drums before cutting out. It begins with an acoustic strut from Walker and the drums and electric guitar match his voice’s intensity increases. “Sweet Satisfaction” is the most charging song on the album and the best example of what is possible when Walker lets the music take the lead. The combination of folk instrumentation and jazz’s sensibility to let the music find its own path can lead to transcendent moments, like on the relaxed “On The Banks Of The Old Kishwaukee.” The song is built around a sweet guitar ditty and the extended musical outro takes the listener on a pleasant journey along the river’s banks rather than just snapping a picture.
#RYLEY WALKER PRIMROSE GREEN FULL#
Walker’s voice is an afterthought on the title track for a full minute as the piano, drums, guitar and bass mingle with each other in an lush jam that progresses as Walker’s voice fades out. Many songs in music are neatly built upon a hook or melody, but Walker draws his music out to let it grow like vines and grasses around a cottage nestled in a briar.
Like his idols, Walker creates dramatic soundscapes that are big and enticing enough to draw people in to explore. Walker’s fingerpicking is nimble like Drake’s and Jansch’s and is at its most fervent on the instrumental “Griffiths Bucks Blues.” And while his lyrics and quality of voice aren’t near that of “Van the Man,” Walker’s singing is as passionate and prone to note bending, like in the earthy electricity of “Summer Dress.” To paraphrase Joe Strummer’s lyrics, Walker’s career wasn’t born so much as it fell out. Walker certainly has reverence for the folk emitting from the British Isles in the 1960s and the mystical sounds of Bert Jansch, Van Morrison and Nick Drake are evident throughout the album. Walker’s new album, Primrose Green, comes out next week. Swap out rural juke joints for rotted DIY spaces and the archetype is solidly intact. That’s as much a testament to his roving, rambling ways, or the fact that his Guild D-35 guitar has endured a few stints in the pawnshop. Ryley Walker’s sophomore album “Primrose Green” is a luxuriant work that has the Chicago native transplanting the seeds of 1960s-era British folk and jazz and growing it into his own secret garden. Ryley Walker is the reincarnation of the true American guitar player.
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