William Ryan Fritch – New Words for Old Wounds (Lost Tribe Sound)

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Well it must be Tuesday as there’s a new William Ryan Fritch album, in fact this album is the final in his 11 part subscription series, and true to form it sounds little like its predecessors. Like much of his work you can hear the developments along the way, as he has increasingly moved towards and gained confidence in working with vocals (particularly his own) without losing his wide screen swells of all encompassing cinematic sound.

Fritch’s mixes have continued to evolve, whilst staying true to his initial vision of density and seduction, crafting these loose, wondrous, imaginative sonic sugar rushes that are as impassioned as they are inventive.

Evocative vocals sweep over immense complex swells of sound, with cello, acoustic guitar, keyboard, cello, woodwind, a reverb soaked wash of crescendo building density, alternatively dinky rattling or booming percussion, bells, handclaps and bottom end shudders, offering not only a roughage, but harkening back to his earlier work when he called himself Vieo Abiungo, albeit significantly more refined. All of his ingredients feel enmeshed, losing their individual identity, a slave to the forward momentum, to the song, as Fritch’s music builds, explodes or momentarily dips and relaunches with surprising agility.

The multi tracked vocals though are central to New Words for Old Wounds, with Fritch’s tender, almost wounded wail that brings to mind Sigur Ros in their interplay between delicate vocals, fragile walls of sound and bombastic blasts of textured crescendos. He’s had help with vocals too, aside from his own, he’s also enlisted DM Stith on two pieces, Powerdove (Annie Lewandowski) with an impassioned duet, and Ceschi (Ramos), all of whom approach the music very differently from Fritch, finding new lines, and new textures.

Fritch is making some truly unique music these days, the palette is wide, and the results are a curious and enchanting mix of film score and indie folk, where dynamics and mood are paramount, yet the music is heartfelt, yearning, and it’s impossible not to be moved.

Finally it’s impossible not to mention the gorgeous packaging and artwork from his longtime label Lost Tribe Sound, who in this day of digital media, continue to fight to preserve the artefact, as an opportunity to provide further context to Fritch’s unique musical vision.

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Bob is the features editor of Cyclic Defrost. He is also evil. You should not trust the opinions of evil people.

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