Album Description

Matthew Ryan "From A Late Night High Rise"

Reviews

Matthew Ryan - From A Late Night High Rise

Louisville Courier-Journal Matthew Ryan is one of those songwriters who has his finger on the pulse of ambient rock, especially with the haunting opener Follow the Leader from his new album From a Late Night High Rise. The album could easily double as a movie soundtrack for an introspective indie film, plus it shows Ryan's ability to successfully bring together acoustics and electronics in a way that's pleasing to your ears.

Chicago Sun Times On From a Late Night High Rise, Ryan explores palpable grief and sadness but not without the powerful antidote of faith, hope and love....deeply compelling work that resonates with an uncommon wisdom and depth.

The Onion Sometimes artists' top MySpace friends tell as much about them as their bios. In Matthew Ryan's case, both Zach Braff and Jameson Whiskey place in his top eight. It makes sense, Ryan's raspy voice sounds whiskey soaked , and his subdued, heartfelt songs would work in any of Braff's dramadies. From A Late Night High Rise finds just the right balance between heart-on-sleeve roughness and elegant sheen.

The Columbus News The more contemporary sub-layers of Nashville's music scene push traditional boundaries. Singer-songwriter Matthew Ryan blends folk and modern pop idioms, wedded to at-times-obtuse but evocative lyrics. His latest, From a Late Night High Rise, embodies next-generation Nashville.

The Nashville Scene Ryan's new From a Late Night High Rise continues his move away from anthemic guitar rock toward a more ruminative, emphatically modern style first explored on his side project, Strays Don't Sleep. Using a contemporary electronic soundscape that's both elegant and emotionally ripe, he explores personal topics-the death of a friend, the imprisonment of his brother-in poetic lines that balance cinematic impressionism with gut-punch truths. In Babybird, for instance, his hoarse whisper of a voice alternates between I feel like jazz / I feel like Berlin with I'm declaring war on arrogance / It's always been the worst and the fall of men.

Pittsburgh Tribune - 3 1/2 out of 4 stars Nothing Matthew Ryan has done before predicts From A Late Night High Rise, a stunning album of depth and quality. The themes of fragile hope emerging from loss in Babybird are in counterpoint to melodies and textures New Order would envy. 1340 Mag This album is often breathtaking but always intriguing, capturing the spirit of albums such as Kid A, The Unforgettable Fire, and Music for the Masses.

Rootstime Belgium Deze CD werd zijn beste album tot nu toe omdat het een heel menselijke, persoonlijke, hoopgevende en warme plaat over menselijke vergankelijkheid en moraal is geworden. Amplifier Magazine ...perceptive, insightful artist whose words and melodies hang like a pall over the course of his musical proceedings and intrude on the consciousness long after the last notes have faded away. This new album is no exception... From A Late Night High Rise is dense, haunting, eerily beautiful... Sound The Sirens The latest release from Matthew Ryan is quite a beauty to behold. It's an interesting beast to tackle.... he leaves behind the shackles of conformity that hinder many musicians in the genre, and lunges almost haphazardly toward creating something unique, inspired, lasting, and enjoyable-the likes of which he aims have been rarely done before.

Ink19 From a Late Night High Rise may have been released just a little too late to be considered for many critics' end-of-year highlights lists, but it's such a brilliant, enduring record that it is sure to still be in contention for high praise come the end of 2007. Austin Chronicle Top Ten Of 2006, Top Ten 2006 Pittsburgh Tribune, Pulse Of The Twin Cities Top Ten of 2006, among others. Grimey's (The Best Independent Record Store in The Mid-South) Top Seller.

No Depression Matthew Ryan's hushed rasp, with words catching like vows destined to be broken, is one of modern music's most potent whispers... Matthew Ryan has been a contender since his first release, From A Late Night High Rise represents another bout won.

The Daily Bulletin If there was any justice, Matthew Ryan would be a household name by now. Atmospheric and haunting, High Rise is Ryan's best yet. Static Multimedia - 3 1/2 out of 4 Stars It's a record that finds its warmth in the quiet detailing of how it all can disappear. If a character is not leaving, they're gone. Everything comes to a head with the final, somewhat surprising, track. The song finds Ryan speaking quietly of his brother. A somber encore with synthesized strings, we find out how this brother was just sentenced to thirty years in prison, for an unnamed offense, after a stint in rehab. All that has come before takes on new meaning and we're left with something of a virtual concept album. Everything that may have seemed a bit unclear on the first trip through can now be identified as one man's longing for a complete family. What was once just another solid album, takes on a more impressive, universal quality. Sea Of Tranquility Both modern and vintage at the same time, this is the perfect soundtrack to infinite nights that teeter on the edge of despair and hope.

NEWARK STAR LEDGER Best of 2006: POP 10 great pop albums Thursday, December 28, 2006 BY JAY LUSTIG Star-Ledger Staff

2. From A Late Night High Rise, Matthew Ryan (00:02:59) The sleeper. A singer-songwriter with an appealingly gruff voice, Ryan released this album earlier this month, with little fanfare, on the Brooklyn-based indie label, 00:02:59. Sometimes he tells simple stories, but he's also capable of Dylanesque complexity: Liberty explodes at the strangest times/A thorny walk through the darkest mines/April sang, like a baby bird/The music soared, I only heard the words. The songs would be powerful stripped down to their acoustic essence. But he makes them arrestingly atmospheric, as well, with scratchy electronic beats, carefully textured feedback, and gorgeous, cinematic strings.

Glide Magazine 4 stars out of 5 - Ryan's latest, From a Late Night High-Rise, could certainly be called his life-support project, only because there is a certain strain, a certain struggle that clings to the thinnest ice on every note, where the sadness becomes beautiful. I can't think of a more sincere album released this year, and that's probably because there isn't one. December releases don't get much better (or heartfelt) than this.

New House Newswire - 4 Stars Take the spontaneity of The Eels, the lyrical intrigue of Bruce Springsteen and the modern day approach of The Killers (without the volume) and you start to get a picture of Matthew Ryan.... A writer of considerable depth and literary gifts, Ryan may not be that well known but he is major presence with which to be reckoned.

Pasadena Weekly Sidestepping self-indulgence, Ryan translates personal hell into bracing, ultimately healing music. Almost painful in its emotional intimacy at times, indie-rock songwriter Ryan's latest release rubs against the skin and slips underneath it on brooding late-night reveries like And Never Look Back, Misundercould, and the oddly assuring Babybird.

The Hartford Courant Ryan's grief inspired the songs on his latest album, a harrowing and deeply moving coming-to-terms record that immediately makes his an essential voice on the contemporary singer-songwriter scene.

Pulse Of The Twin Cities A must-hear, have-to-own epic of an album that should be required listening for every songwriter-and music lover-in the world.

Paste Magazine - 4 and 1/2 stars Matthew Ryan has delivered a pitch-perfect companion for bleak [winter] days ahead. High Rise is that most rare of modern albums, one that comfortably bears its own weight from beginning to end. Hands down, his finest work to date.

Performing Songwriter Heartache couldn't sound more real than on Matthew Ryan's latest. His voice, warm like embers, contrasts chilly electronic beats, swirling synthesizers and searing electric guitars. From A Late Night High Rise is a deeply compelling work from an underrated singer and songwriter at his very best.

Blogcritics.org ...From a Late Night High Rise is remarkable for its beauty and sincerity. Ryan has crafted an album that is concurrently thought-provoking, heart-breaking, and uplifting.

Bullzeye.com - 4 Stars Few albums in recent memory have been as perfectly, poetically titled as From a Late Night High Rise. It emits the warmth of faith, hope and love against the vast, chilling uncertainty of endless night. The light is unsteady - at times, it's little more than the neon glow from an upper-story window; at others, the comforting pulse of a rooftop beacon - but Ryan never lets us lose sight of it.