Unwrapping an album by Ryley Walker is always a bit like freeing a Christmas present from its wrapping paper. If you like Walker, you know you can't be disappointed, and yet it's always completely open what exactly is waiting inside the wrapping. Currently Ryley has two new albums under his belt, the song album "Course In Fable" on his own new label Husky Pants and a drone album with Chicago permanent innovator David Grubbs.
"Course In Fable" is reminiscent in many ways of Ryley's much-lauded work "Primrose Green," except this time he weaves his influences from folk and soul to minimal music and psychedelic to avant-garde jazz much more subtly. "'Primrose Green' certainly wasn't as clearly defined as 'Course In Fable,'" Walker agrees. "The new album is much more in line with my personality. I feel it's more genuine and deeper than my previous records. However, I have to admit that I wanted to make an album that sounded like Peter Gabriel on the Thrill Jockey label."
This statement is remarkable for Walker, testifying to a self-assurance that eluded him in his earlier days. His self-doubt and escape mechanisms seem to have evaporated. The creative push is not only evident in his songs, but also in his personality. The songs were written in spring 2020 during a solo tour through Europe at soundchecks and backstage ...
