Ryan Edmond’s debut album ‘From the Start’ is an exciting blend of Aussie indie and European city sounds
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02.12.2020

Ryan Edmond’s debut album ‘From the Start’ is an exciting blend of Aussie indie and European city sounds

Words by Keegan Bennett

'From the Start' is a love letter to travelling the globe, but stays grounded throughout.

The debut album from Western Australian native Ryan Edmond is due out this Friday and after drip-feeding listeners with singles over the last two years, finally offers up something to sink our teeth into.

The record, titled ‘From the Start’ is no doubt inspired by Edmond’s time spent living in Stockholm, as overall it presents spacey, chilling production – handled by Craig Harnath and Jez Giddings – that compliments Edmond’s drawn-out, melancholic vocals.

The project opens with ‘Stockholm’, a four-minute track that directly talks about Edmond’s experiences with moving to the Swedish capital. The track closes with the line ‘Moved across the ocean, coming home’ which could both be about his ability to start a life in Stockholm, but also about a desire to stay connected with his homeland. It seems fitting that on the first track of the record we hear a trumpet solo, an instrument that pops up several times throughout and always catches you off guard, but are a much-appreciated break-up and just one of the many things that makes this a unique sounding project. They remind me of some of the work produced by Chaos in the CBD, a house duo from New Zealand (listen to ‘Midnight in Peckham’ and you’ll see what I mean), however, I’m sure the influence is much more grounded to genres that this album finds itself in. Edmond cites Chet Baker and Miles Davis as inspirations for the project, and this is no doubt a nod to those jazz legends.

The jazz influence continues on the next track, ‘From the Start’ as it opens with a simple, off-beat drum fill that continues throughout. Seemingly talking about a  life-long friendship that has grown apart over time – ‘You’re so stuck in your ways, I don’t know where to find you these days’, on this track we are again met with those delightful horns that carry the listener into the chorus.

 

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Many of the tracks on this album seem to show a divide in Edmond’s life as he draws influence from his time traveling the globe, as well as tried and true Aussie values that really cement the phrase “you can take the boy out the country but you can’t take the country out the boy”. On ‘Perfect’ Edmond sings about releasing one’s feelings and not bottling things up, and several other tracks seem to support this “don’t dwell on things and just get going” attitude that is very much cemented into Aussie life.

‘From the Start’ is an album that could serve as an audible passport of sorts, with Ryan Edmond’s experiences from around the globe informing his musical choices, fusing European sensibilities and American jazz notes with hints of Australian folk. ‘From the Start’ is a really interesting album and is a good sign of things to come from the singer-songwriter.

Check out Ryan Edmond’s SoundCloud, including the singles from ‘From the Start’ here, the album will release this Friday, the 4th of December.