Earlier this month, Rival Consoles aka Ryan Lee West announced the follow-up to last Autumn’s acclaimed full-length album Howl. Entitled Night Melody, the upcoming 6-song record spans 34 minutes of West’s most personal and intimate work to date, as the press release explains, portraying “a man reeling from the ashes of the break-up of a 13-year relationship with his partner”. Speaking about it, West had this to say:
“I found myself, in a silent home, with the days getting dark very early. I’ve never before in my life been affected by the lack of light so much. I just remember it always being night time. I would either make music into the night, go out drinking with friends, or go to parties and dance into the early hours, every day, week after week, month after month, until eventually the days became brighter again.
This record is very personal to me and I hope it offers something for other people, as it helped me to make it and to listen to it. Almost every synth line was recorded intuitively, without perfection but with a lot of intention and expression. I’m not interested in making something sad or making something happy. I want music to be bittersweet, to be more complex, like life – containing moments of vibrant colour and hope, as much as darkness and sadness.”
Night Melody will see the light of day on August 5th via Erased Tapes. Ahead of it, Rival Consoles is offering the first wonderful and enigmatic taste from it, ‘Lone’. Listen to it now.
New York based stalwarts Skeleton$, the revolving ensemble of musicians around Chicago native composer, songwriter and filmmaker Matt Mehlan, released their ninth album, the tremendous Am I Home?, earlier this year.
