Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It: Matthew Ryan

Matthew Ryan has been making superb albums since 1997 and to date has amassed an impressive 18 solo albums, as well as three collaborations. His knack for writing instantly accessible hooks and tunes is seriously impressive, and this is aided by a really distinctive voice and a masterful storytelling ability. No Depression described him as “equal parts Springsteen, Westerberg and Ryan Adams” and he’s renowned for his “hushed rasp, with words catching like vows destined to be broken – one of modern music’s most potent whisperers“.

A native of Chester, Pennsylvania, he made his debut with the incredibly strong “May Day”, which was produced by David Ricketts and showed musical maturity way beyond his 25-year-old self. He’s quoted as saying, “all the songs are about the ending, not the beginning“. He’s also a formidable character. Early in his career, an East Coast critic wrote about him being a “manufactured Springsteen clone“. Incredibly peeved, Ryan tracked down the writer’s number and left a message, “Come to my show and say that to my face“.

The phrase “criminally underrated” can be overused, but it’s so apt for the career of Ryan, whose body of work is embarrassingly strong. His music is bold and catchy, but he’s never afraid of writing about loss, but always in his suitably clever, hopeful manner. He hasn’t made a dud album over the eighteen releases, but it’s interesting to compare two very different ones. The DIY feel of “I Recall…” and the magnificent “…Silver State”.

Can’t Live With It: I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall (2021)

So for his ninth release, he changed the way he records. This was going to show him as the ‘bedroom musician’. He’d learnt so much about the art of songwriting and recording since 1997, he decided to go back to basics. This is a great selection of songs, as was his knack, but the more basic production techniques sometimes shows up some limitations.

‘Hey Kid’ is the standout track, opening with computer doodlings before a strong guitar lick is introduced, and we have a powerful feel. The song has Ryan attempting to directly connect the pain he’s suffering to the pain of others. ‘I Don’t Want A Third World War’ opens on some simple acoustic guitar, before a repetitive piano line is introduced and takes over the song – there’s a really dark vulnerability on display here, and this, together with the DIY feel, is really effective, but sometimes falters. The directness of some of the lyrics, combined with a highly ambitious sound that’s maybe just a bit too epic, hinders some of the album’s effectiveness.

‘All Hail The Kings Of Trash’ is a searing rocker with edgy guitar work and a simple yet memorable melody, and some nice backing vocals – it’s all very Ryan-esque, but one wonders how it might have sounded with a fuller production sheen. Sadly, there’s a sameness to some of the songs due to the production techniques, but any Ryan song is worth so much generally that it’s still a glorious and interesting album.

Can’t Live Without It: “Matthew Ryan vs The Silver State” (2008)

So, having experienced a conscious decision to leave his early major record label, preferring to release his material independently, prior to recording this album he’d released two really strong albums – “Regret Over The Wires” (2003) and 2007’s “From A Late Night High Rise”, which was influenced by the death of a dear friend and the sentencing of Ryan’s older brother to a 30 year prison sentence.

His songwriting was developing even further, and this album was to prove one of his strongest. Doing publicity around the release, Ryan said the album was about – “perseverance; defining yourself, struggle and hope; idealism versus cynicism,” as well as, he said, “young people at the mercy of what’s around them, whether it’s the streets that they were born on or the parents they had—all that stuff that, when you’re a kid, attaches itself to you. Hopefully, you spend your life shaking it off. But a lot of us don’t.”

It opens with the epic 7-minute ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ with a strong drumbeat, pounding bass, and a gentle but effective guitar and glorious fiddle playing; there’s a Waterboys feel to it big time. There’s references to Wilfred Owen’s searing poem about the horrors of war, but Ryan’s lyrics are far more personal. Lead single is next, ‘American Dirt’, with a pounding bass and drums, haunting backing vocals and lovely piano playing around a memorable melody, with a singalong chorus before we explode quite crunchy electric guitars. ‘Meet Me By The River’ is a quieter song, but a searing portrait of urban decay that couldn’t be stronger. The aforementioned comparisons with Springsteen are brought to the fore in a witty way on ‘It Could Have Been Wonderful’. “Her blond hair was the setting sun, her mascara was born to run”.

There are two thumping sing-along rockers in ‘Killing The Ghost’ and ‘Drunk And Disappointed’, both of which bear a striking similarity to Paul Westerberg at his strongest. To balance all this noise, there’s a lovely lost love letter in ‘Jane I Still Feel The Same’ with just Ryan’s impassioned vocals and acoustic guitar stirring the heartstrings, before a fiddle and bells add to the atmosphere.‘They Were Wrong’ is almost a sing-along tune with a simple but effective acoustic melody and a chorus to die for.

This is a stunning album – showing off Ryan at his songwriting and performing best, and it’s been a genuine mystery as to why he hasn’t had more success. He’s still performing, with his most recent release being “Year For Novembers” under The Pines At Night moniker with Neilson Hubbard. A powerful and impassioned musician really worth further investigation.