The upcoming new album by Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter Ryan Traster (July 19th, Slow Start Records) features that warm, worn-in vibe of an album that’s been in your cool parents record collection since you were a kid. Eventually, it gets passed down to you to take along into “the real world” and is there when you need to be reminded of being a kid again.
It’s that gem of a find in a milk crate of vinyl at the local tag sale on a Sunday afternoon. The kind of album that becomes an all-time favorite, only discovered there by the person who knows what they’re looking for and has the time to dig for it.
Choses Obscures (the title translates from French as “obscure things,” and implies a “dark energy”) is both of those things, and that implied darkness provides a subtle mask that contrasts and deepens the sunny images above.
When Traster throws curve balls with lyrics of places and times that don’t abide the most famed of singer-songwriter eras (the kind that even the album’s cover art evokes), things get real.
According to Traster, the album’s cosmic-country, straight outta Laurel Canyon feel is heavily influenced by Skip Spence, Bert Jansch, and Judee Sill, all of whom passed before their time. That “beyond the grave” murkiness pervades Traster’s lyrics in a profound way, even down to that JAMC reference.
Today Glide is excited to premiere the album’s first single “New Again”, which is a sonic re-birth as its title suggests. Reminiscent of pop-tinged classic rock acts like Traveling Wilburys, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne, the song proves to be an instant earworm. Traster conjures a light-hearted sense of nostalgia with a thoroughly enjoyable fusion of country and power pop. His laid back vocal delivery intertwines perfectly with the acoustic guitar strumming, catchy electric guitar hooks, and airy harmonies.
Traster describes the tune in his own words:
“’New Again’ is a look at that “if I only had…” mindset. Always reaching for the next thing, missing out on the brilliance of the present, and the casualties that get left in the wake. Sonically, I was looking to hit that Petty, Wilburys, Jeff Lynne feel. I think the harmonies my friend Savannah Smith contributed to the chorus, really help to reinforce a bit of that doo-wop, Roy Orbison element.”
Choses Obscures, the second full-length album by Ryan Traster, arrives July 19th from Slow Start Records. For more music and info visit ryantrastermusic.com.
Photo credit: Kimberly Traster
