Ryley Walker is not of this time. Drawing likely comparisons to Tim Buckley, John Martyn and Nick Drake for his fingerpicked folk guitar style, Ryley Walker’s sophomore LP, “Primrose Green”, is less a collection of songs than it is a series of esoteric compositions culled from the ether of yore.
More bandleader than frontman, Walker isn’t burdened by traditional narrative structures; rather, the Chicago-by-way-of-Rockford, Illinois guitar picker and his band of Windy City musicians incorporate lyrical fragments into their alchemy of sound to create a series of mood pieces that flit on a wind, catching one’s ear in passing. Lyrics serve to reflect and reinforce a particular composition’s tone as much as they are used as vocal cues to the musicians working alongside Walker.
Primrose Green‘s folk influence is most present when Walker takes the lead as on the blossoming interlude, Upholding his place alongside the likes of contemporary William Tyler, Walker represents the past yin to Tyler’s futuristic yang.
Ryley Walker performing live in the KEXP studio. Recorded July 22, 2014.
Songs:
The West Wind
Summer Dress
Clear The Sky
Go Your Way My Love
The Fat Angel Sings 