Tag: The Gaslight Anthem

Matthew Ryan’s “Starlings Unadorned” Exposes a New Dimension to “Hustle Up Starlings”

Starlings Unadorned

Matthew Ryan has released Starlings Unadorned, a collection of “cinematic acoustic” versions of some of the songs on 2017’s Hustle Up Starlings.  The new album also features some unreleased songs and demos.  Hustle Up Starlings shows a different side of the full-band versions of the exciting original album.

Ryan explains on Bandcamp that Starlings Unadorned came out of a process:  “Often after you finish a new album, you have to sit down and re-learn the songs on your acoustic because of all the flourishes and skin a band brings to them in the studio.”  Then, he added some other unreleased songs that seemed to fit well with the new album.

We previously posted the rocking version of the song “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator” from Hustle Up Starlings.  That video featured young women portraying Ryan and his band.  Starlings Unadorned includes a new version of the song.

Ryan is promoting the “new” version of the song with with a new video.  Like the song’s earlier video, the new one also includes Chloe Barczak (“vocals”) and Carina Begley (“guitar”).

Gorman Bechard, who directed the video for the original version of “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator, directed the new video for the acoustic version.  Once he heard this acoustic version that Ryan was releasing on Starlings Unadorned, he contacted Ryan and asked to make a new video. Check it out.

Ryan explained on Facebook how the young women in the videos for the song moved him in an unexpected way, connecting the perspective of youth to the troubles of the world today.  “[T]here was this heart in [the video], this depth of story that I (as a person now more experienced by time and the beautiful and horrible things our world participates in, or observes, or does, or hopes to salve) was confronted with.”

Below is the original version of “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator.” While I love this original version, the softer acoustic version adds another dimension to the song, revealing additional wonderful layers.

As I listen to the new release, enjoying these new recordings, I find that one of the great things about Starlings Unadorned is that it opens another window on Hustle Up Starlings.

Starlings Unadorned is available through Bandcamp.  Sales of the new album will help support Ryan’s summer tour with The Gaslight Anthem.  Our original review of2017’s Hustle Up Starlings is here.

What do you think of the acoustic version of “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Matthew Ryan: “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator”
  • Matthew Ryan’s “Hustle Up Starlings” (Review)
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  • Official Video for Matthew Ryan’s “Boxers”
  • A “Song for a Hard Year” from The Pines at Night
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    Matthew Ryan: “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator”

    Matthew Ryan Hustle Matthew Ryan, one of our favorite artists, is releasing a new album called Hustle Up Starlings.  And a new video features the album’s first single, “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator.”

    Ryan tells Diffuser that the songs are about “hope and perseverance.” The songs try to capture the spirit of our national moment of being in “a world that feels like it might catch fire with all its uncertainty and friction, the ugly politics and rising impulses.”

    Popdust calls the 10-track album Ryan’s “most poetic, gnawing and adventurous album of this career.”  And Ryan writes of the album: “We invested all the heart, smarts and honest cinema we were capable of. I feel strongly these songs will become great companions.”

    To highlight the “perseverance” aspect of “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator,” Ryan chose to have young women projecting his voice in the video.  It’s a powerful statement in “our post-Trump world.” But it also is a lot of fun.

    Check out “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator,” where the singer pleads, “Don’t die, don’t disappear/ I swear to God we need you/ here.”

    Ryan’s last full-length album was 2014’s Boxers, although he released an 8-track instrumental digital album, Current Events, in Fall 2016.  Hustle Up Starlings, which was produced by The Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon, hits the Internet and stores on May 12, 2017.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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  • Matthew Ryan’s “Starlings Unadorned” Exposes a New Dimension to “Hustle Up Starlings”
  • Matthew Ryan’s “Hustle Up Starlings” (Review)
  • The Pines at Night (Matthew Ryan) Releases Full Album,”A Year of Novembers”
  • A “Song for a Hard Year” from The Pines at Night
  • “Life is Beautiful” With Matthew Ryan
  • There Will Be Another Christmas

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Don McLean Live at Glastonbury

    Don McLean live American PieI recently discovered that YouTube features a number of full high quality performances from past Glastonbury Festivals in England. Some of the clips are of individual songs instead of full performances. There are some good ones of Paul Simon, Johnny Cash, Buddy Guy, The Gaslight Anthem, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Regina Spektor and OK Go.

    For one that you might not expect, check out this 2011 performance by Don McLean, who of course performs “Vincent” and “American Pie.” Here is “Vincent.”

    And here is “American Pie.”

    To see Glastonbury performances from the other performers, head over to this YouTube link.

    What is or favorite YouTube concert? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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