Well-travelled folk-pop singer Elaine Ryan has an international background that gives her music a unique scope.
The Irish-born singer/songwriter, whose home and destinations have included Europe, Hawaii and points in North America, resides in Vancouver.
Ryan’s instrument of choice to write and record is the acoustic guitar, and that sound is richly represented on her first album, Songs From the River.
Her material has a touch of easy-flowing café culture running through the arrangements (September Promise), and her songs stand alone with minimal adornment. They’re evocative and direct (Making Eyes), and the clarity of the production allows the best part, Ryan’s voice, to shine through.
Her vocal sound is thoughtful and clear; a comforting and assured style with the suggestion of an emotional edge.
Some voices and vocalists have a hint of familiarity that reaches outward in their sound and character, and Ryan has that quality. There is a minor key twinge of melancholy in Aching that’s tempered with a straight-ahead story-telling lilt in Still On My Mind. Together they create an alluring charm that is relaxed and wide-open.
Ryan’s music isn’t concerned with over-contemplation. Many of the songs have a jaunty bounce at their centre, but seem to have been written in the calm of candlelight. Her lyrics, guitar work and vocals culminate beautifully in her ballad The River.
–– Dean Gordon-Smith is The Morning Star’s CD reviewer, His column, Street Sounds, appears every Friday.
