![]() ![]() In the opening title track, Primrose Green, the Pentangle vibe is unmistakable and executed to perfection. The first three tracks on the album evoke, in turn, Bert Jansch, Tim Buckley and John Martyn and it would be easy to fall into that trap. When the vocals open in ‘Summer Dress’ it’s Tim Buckley in the flesh, no one else could deliver a vocal performance like that…until now.įirst impressions could tempt the unwary into making the mistake of approaching Walker as some sort of tribute act. The music glories in the colourful jazz and folk fusions that grew from that era and his voice takes on the tones, style and passion of Jansch, Buckley and Martyn with beguiling mastery. His second album, Primrose Green, will be released at the end of March and is sure to raise a few eyebrows. His music is unashamedly a direct descent of the 1970’s UK folk scene, but there’s an Atlantic undertow that pulls those influences westward. It’s hard not to feel this album is at times, derivative, but it’s a perfect evocation of a period of time, and one of the lovelier albums released in 2015.Although Illinois raised and Chicago based, Ryley Walker is difficult to pin down geographically. Closing track Hide In The Roses is almost apologetic in comparison to the previous nine tracks, a brief, sparse acoustic lament. The reference point here is very much Nick Drake, Walker sounds in control, comfortable yet world-weary. Towards the end of the album things relax a little with the string-accompanied The High Road. Later, All Kinds Of You infuses the Martyn-feel with an almost Doors-like broodiness. The lengthy, intense Sweet Satisfaction has John Martyn at its core, from the plucked guitar to the slurred vocal and it’s the closest this album comes to outright homage, Walker even singing “I’d rather be the de-ye-ye-ye-vil”, while guitar squalls are tossed about liberally. On The Banks of the Old Kishwaukee is almost a perfect distillation of the influences on this album, equal teaspoons of Buckley, Drake and Martyn, but it’s impossible to argue with it when it, like the rest of the album is rendered so well. On instrumental tracks like Griffiths Bucks Blues, Walker gets the chance to really stretch out on guitar with some impossibly complex twists and turns. ![]() Same Minds has some of the grace associated with John Martyn’s early seventies material, the presence of Jason Adasiewicz on vibes lending authenticity to this and the simmering workout of Love Can Be Cruel. Others might use words like ‘freeform’ and ‘groovy’, but the track itself has the feel of Tim Buckley’s Happy Sad album. This will divide the listener, some might call it self-indulgence. Second track in, the jazzy Summer Dress, sees Walker cast off any inhibitions with a hyperactive vocal, singing all over a fairly simple groove. The title track, which opens the album sounds like a perfect fusion of Tim Buckley and Nick Drake, all pretty instrumentation, loose rhythm and Walker’s slurry, Buckley-esque vocals. ![]() The photography and even the font on the album cover has a retro feel, as if it belongs to another time. Ryley Walker – Primrose Green – Album Review by Killian LaherĪmerican guitarist Ryley Walker takes the listener on a trip back to the halcyon days of the late 60s/early 70s singer-songwriter era with his second album Primrose Green.
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