#78 Ryan Cabrera, "Say"

Now I'm livin'
In a beautiful town
There ain't no people
But they love my sound

I was furious with Ryan the first time I heard this song.

Ryan returns, great news! He's written a great handclap-featuring song opening, even better! He's written an amazing verse, too? A lazy day mid-tempo almost jangly acoustic guitar-but-produced thing that conveys an unrushed sense of singer-songwriter ability I didn't expect him to demonstrate after his departure from a major label and try-hard makeover, that has an easy and deserved confidence to it? You're kidding! Could he actually have created a song I can use to win over people who might not have liked him in the past? Well, if this bridge is anything to go by, yes--how catchy, but well-done! Way to go, Ryan! Oh no...

That would be the point where I heard the chorus of "Say" for the first time. For months and months, I couldn't get over the fact that, in comparison to the rest of the song (which also features an excellent floating-but-fast middle 8), the first part of the chorus felt lazy. Where was the craftsmanship and effort that had gone into the rest of the song? How could he suddenly have gotten lazy (in the bad sense) for the most important part of the song? Did he think that since every other element of the song was top quality songwriting he could avoid worrying about one part? Maybe the logic was that the simple, vocally uncomplicated feel of the first part of the chorus is a needed respite from the rest of the song, but given that the rest of the song is intricately simple and deceptively relaxed in sound, I don't think it was all that needed.

I gave in in the end, though. I still think that going on the surprisingly mature level of songwriting he displays throughout the rest of "Say" that Ryan could have done better, could have come up with something to take this song from great to masterpiece--and no joke, it's one brilliant beginning to a chorus away from being that--but I've learned to live with the song we have. "Say," a song for sunny road trips, does not represent the first indication that Ryan could be or is a great songwriter, but it is the first sign that he just might avoid simply growing up and instead mature, in the best possible way.

Find it on: The Mood Under Water

#93 Ryan Cabrera, "Enemies"

Don't say that we're something we're not
We think too much, then we're gonna get caught
Don't say that we're something we're not
The truth is maybe I wanna get caught

Betrayal and revenge are the subject of Ryan Cabrera's first musical hook-up with the '80's. "Enemies" isn't fully synth-pop-rock but it's a step in that direction, which is a surprising but also surprisingly welcome one for Ryan. Originally a member of the teen-pop brigade--on of the artists launched in the early '00's to take advantage of it but with his acoustic guitar always emphasized as part of both his image and his still fully produced and fleshed out musical sound--Ryan struggled to get his second major label album to sell and consequently disappeared for a while. He randomly popped up on So You Think You Can Dance sporting a radically changed hairstyle--gone was his trademark spikey blonde hair and in its place was long curly black hair and a hat. Apparently deciding that wasn't enough to distance himself from his clean-cut past and repaint himself as both part of a scenester-style movement and a "serious artist," when he emerged again, he'd ditched the hat but added a frankly ridiculous black goatee and mustache. Oh, yeah, and also brought some new music with him.

His songwriting skills were apparently uninjured by all the black dye, even if most of America paid no attention. The Mood Under Water is not a brilliant album, but it does have some great songs on it. "Enemies" was one of them. Half confession and half pop-rock blowout, it's the moment where Ryan's still unconvincing altered image comes through and is channeled most successfully. It's the sort of thing that will probably never be cool enough for those dark clubs Ryan is courting but that would do a fantastic job of soundtracking all the goings-on in the darkened corners of those clubs.

Addendum: since Ryan's management apparently seems to see his hair as a Samson-like source of power for him, I feel I must mention that apparently he is now facial hair-free and sporting a spikey brown poofball of hair on his head now. A compromise?

Find it on: The Moon Under Water

We think too much then we're gonna get caught

(I know a lot of people might be inclined to skip over this post because of who the artist is, but really, please give the song a try.)

Can I confess something? I never got around to listening to Ryan Cabrera's last album. Yes, I read Paul and Thnairg's reviews of it with interest, and yes, I've written about him--music I liked from his first album, bizarre styling choices I didn't--a pretty fair bit, but I was so frustrated with "Say," a song with a BRILLIANT verse, bridge, and middle 8 that I felt was completely let down by the beginning of the chorus, as well as a bit turned off by what I thought the styling change implied--the usual teen pop-artist-goes-serious-musician and forgets all about actually bringing good songs with them--that I just never made the effort to listen to anything besides "Say."

I hadn't thought about that album, The Moon Under Water, at all again until I was catching up on posts I missed while I was away. Poptext is such a well-written blog that, even when I don't agree, I'm interested in what Abby has to say...meaning that, though I feared the worst when I saw a picture of Ryan (I may not have properly listened to his second album or--at that point--listened to any of his third beyond one song, but I genuinely enjoy multiple songs from his first), I went ahead and read the post anyway. I really recommend doing the same, but, just in case people won't click over, I had to write something about she was talking about anyway.



(You don't have to watch the video, but I know that sometimes people are more likely to listen to a song if doing so is one click away, as opposed to the couple of clicks it'd take to listen to it via SpeedyShare--and I really want people to hear this.)

Enemies

Wow. I know I just used the word "brilliant" up above, but I really have to use it again: brilliant. Who knew there was something this...synthy on his album? Sparkling synth-(pop-)rock, to be more specific, a little '80's but also '00's. If Ryan failed to deliver that killer chorus on "Say," he doesn't here: that opening line that gives the song its title as well as the "well keep your hands up so I can see 'em" (love that line) are a perfect explosion, the kind of thing that makes me think of a mob of hipster-styled kids with their hands in the air, jumping up and down in a half-dark club as the lights flash in slow motion. It's even got that divine-if-often-used middle 8 technique of going all quiet, submerging the voice in an eye-of-the-storm music moment before finally building to a final, more powerful than ever go-round of the chorus.

This is the sort of song I've been listening to on repeat for most of today, the sort of song that I've been just bubbling over to write about since I first heard it, to write about and share because really, more people need to hear this song. And that's a pretty rare and special thing. Now, where's my list of the contenders for my favorite singles of 2008...?

To buy Ryan Cabrera's third album The Mood Under Water, go here (physical).

Next up: maybe that post about demos. Or, you know, not.

Like you do when no one is around

You know how I once pretty much dedicated a whole post to "wow, look how different Simple Plan guy looks!"? Yeah, well, sorry, but here's another installment of the "wow, look at how different [singer] looks!" I know we've covered Ryan Cabrera in brief before, courtesy of his curly long black hair and black hat combo on So You Think You Can Dance. Well, look what Mr. Cabrera apparently looks like now:


(Taken from his MySpace)

I feel like my understanding of the universe is crumbling.

Edit: I typed this up yesterday, and then I actually check his MySpace again today, and it's been totally revamped with clips from his new album, Moon Under Water, due out this April, with the lead single "S'S'Say" out before then (and the verses of it are actually pretty good, though the chorus is totally underwhelming), though he doesn't have a major label deal. This was just meant to be snark, but I guess now it's actual news!

Anyway, I stumbled upon that image while checking up on Josh Hoge, the--oh, how do you even begin to describe Josh Hoge?



"I am a pop singer, but I kinda live like a rock ‘n’ roller. I definitely drink too much, and cuss too much, and chase girls around too much. I think I was like, at Nickelodeon doing an interview one time and they were just kinda like, 'This is never gonna work.'"

Source



Yeah, that probably about sums it up. Anyway, poor Josh had a great single out in 2006 called "360" that no one paid any attention to, and he released a great album sampler to promote it--seriously, not one bad song on it, and "Take It Or Leave It," posted on his MySpace for a while, was great as well. Single failed to take off, studio album thereby failed to materialize, dropped from record label, toured with Elliot Yamin and released a lo-fi ish EP instead. Apparently he's hoping to get an album out sometime in the first half of 2008.

Anyway, if you missed out on my earlier post on Josh (which was pretty near the beginning of this blog, so there's a good chance of that) and haven't heard his material, now's the time to run over to his MySpace because, as long as you've got your own MySpace account, you can download "360" and "Work Your Body" for free, and that's a pretty amazing thing, considering that both songs are fantastic. "360" is this great ballad that I mentioned just recently in reference to Justin's "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around;" both share the "you'll get what's coming to you for what you did to me" message and kind of a similar vibe. I was also really into "360" right around the time I was into Mario Vazquez's Ne-Yo-penned "Gallery," and they'd fit together on a playlist nicely as well, despite opposite lyrical sentiments.

"Work Your Body" is a complete change of pace, though, a pervey funk-filled falsetto-featuring song that deserves much more than being a free download on MySpace and a featured spot on a Biggest Loser soundtrack. Go download it already. Apparently Mark Ronson co-wrote it! And Amy Winehouse! Along with David Ryan Harris. Who knew?

While I'm writing about Josh Hoge, though I've said it before, I might as well throw in again that he co-wrote Blake Lewis's "Know My Name," which was originally intended for Josh, I think. Also, a bunch of Josh's songs (including "Take It Or Leave It") were co-written by Ryan Tedder. Josh also did a song with Cheyenne Kimball called "Wonderful" that was a bonus track on her album, available only at Target.

To finish off the randomness of this post:



Gareth Gates on ice! Love Gareth, but I hope he's doing this just for fun, because even if he wins, I feel like it'll be Matt Willis all over again in terms of helping his music career. I adore him, though, so I wish him loads of success in this and everything. Plus, congratulations--he and his longterm girlfriend just got engaged this New Year's Eve!

Time goes by fast

Ryan Cabrera on So You Think You Can Dance:

My first thought: wait, what? Does he have something new coming out? I mean, they use his song "I Will Remember You" for when people get kicked off, but surely that can't be what...

And then that train of thought was completely interrupted by his actual appearance.

What the heck?

(If I had a picture, I would totally put one hear--suffice to say he's, umm, changed his look a bit.)

(By the way, it's down to Danny or Sabra at this point, either of which I'm fine with. Still sad Pasha didn't make the top 4, though.)