Ryan Martin | Wandercease
High Moon RecordsHailing originally from such storied California towns as Los Gatos and Chico, singer-songwriter Ryan Martin has finally found himself settled in the Hudson Valley after his obligatory stint in the Big Apple. You can hear the end result of Martin's travels in the rootsy, soulful sound on Wandercease, where the peaceful, easy, countrified sounds of the Eagles blend with the mid-1970s Los Angeles lush, harmonic pop of Fleetwood Mac. While he doesn't particularly sound like him, Martin's overall musical gestalt reminds me of Beck on the latter's more introspective albums, in the manner that he allows songs to build slowly and go off in whatever direction they decide to take. In other words, the album's eclecticism never seems forced but always organic. The places where it ends up occasionally even bring to mind Pet Sounds. There can be no greater praise.
