New Ryan Hemsworth album offers spacey beats and carefully crafted songs
With a sound characterized by dreamy trip-hop beats, found sounds, and gentle, sweetly sung vocals, Haligonian producer Ryan Hemsworth has carved out a unique sound in Canadian electronic music. His latest album, Alone For the First Time, finds him in top form as a producer – albeit a form that plays it a little too safe sometimes.
The album’s first cut, “Hurt Me,” opens with an almost Disney movie-esque string swell, followed by dream-like, chimey trip-hop textures with a sort of “living, breathing toybox” aesthetic. It then drops into a driving, fully-fleshed beatscape, suggesting a vague, wispy sexiness through its gently lulling rhythmic patterns. This opener sets the tone for the rest of the album, clocking in at a brief but strong 27 minutes.
“Snow in Newark,” the album’s single, is a radio-friendly cut with a strong vocal hook and characteristically multi-layered beats, underscoring his heartache-tinged rap-singing. “Blemish,” the album’s standout track, showcases an off-kilter guitar loop with a strong beat drop that is tastefully sparse, until its buildup takes a ride into a wild, astral soundscape that is insatiably immersive.
…dream-like, chimey trip-hop textures…
“Too Long Here,” featuring the vocals of Alex G, highlights, intentionally or otherwise, the dynamic of the album’s production and aesthetic. For Hemsworth, a producer with an auteur’s control over dynamic and timbre, there are a number of features on this album, and I found it interesting the way he addresses this. “Too long here to keep to myself/I keep to myself/What did I say?” sings the gentle tenor of Alex G – perhaps this is a statement of the lone producer’s engagement with the voices of others. I am reminded of Baths’ 2010 LP Cerulean, recorded entirely by Baths’ lone member, Will Wiesenfeld, in his California home. “Too Long Here” is an instant where isolation translates so well into music that intervention by a third party serves not as a disruption, but as a revelation.
The album’s closer, “By Myself,” opens like a would-be a cappella track, highlighting the vocal chops of The GTW, and rapping courtesy of Little Cloud. The dramatic, minor-key groove, accentuated with scratchy snares and whirling synth pads, leaves the LP lingering on a dramatic note, but with enough mystique to warrant another listen.
Overall, the album is a delightful listen, showing admirable restraint and attention to details. However, my biggest reservation with the album is that it is a bit too reserved at points. Something in the album tells me that Hemsworth has a rawer, more bombastic edge trying to creep out, but the hyper-attentive sampling and smooth-as-glass soundscapes seem to drown it out as soon as it attempts to do so. Regardless, it’s a truly enjoyable LP, perhaps best suited for cold weather headphone listening. So, bake some gingerbread cookies, get out your finest coffee and French press, and give it a listen when the impending snow rolls in.