‘Between a Disillusion and Resolution’

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My debut solo album ‘Between a Disillusion and Resolution’ is out now!

After spending the last three years writing, recording and painstakingly agonising over the post-production of this record, I am really pleased to be now be able to share it with you.

Here are links to the album:

Spotify Music link
https://open.spotify.com/album/2qB0C1v9vqey8CqMNY3iP2…

Apple Music link: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id/1501313612

The album is also available on many other streaming platforms.

A huge thanks to the following talented people involved with making this record.

Andrew Bishop – Co producer, recording and mixing engineer

Ben Elliott – Bass Guitar

Aled Lloyd – Drums

Jiffy Griffiths – Percussion

Emma Davidson  – Vocals

Darlee Urbiztondo – Artwork

Bethan Miller – Photography

Steve Kitch- Mastering Engineer

Additionally I would like to thank:

Will and Jane Mackie and Rob Reed – For the mentoring and moral support!
George Soriano – For his generosity with additional gear.
My family for their moral support and the help with transport!

The album was written over the course of what was a very interesting period of time for me. As a result, a lot of the album was written in Dubai and subsequently recorded in Wales.

I will be sharing the stories that inspired each of the songs over the coming days.

For those of who do enjoy this record, please feel free to share it with someone else you think will also enjoy it. It would be greatly appreciated.

Stay safe during this strange and unprecedented time,

Ryan

Ryan Mark Elliott – Solo album ‘Between a disillusion and resolution’ – release date 27th March 2020.

Posted by Ryan Mark Elliott Music on

After many years of writing and recording, I am proud to be sharing the news with you that I will be releasing my debut solo album on Friday 27th March 2020.

Between a Disillusion and Resolution

1.) Dreams to Ashes

2.) Half Notion

3.) Grey Day

4.) Myopia

5.) The Upside Down

6.) Kaleidoscope

7.) Continents Away (Feat. Emma Davidson)

8.) Anything is Possible

9.) Exiles

After the release of Eden Shadow’s 2016 album ‘Melodies for Maladies’, a totally grand, ambitious and heavy concept album, I wanted to write a collection of more individual songs. Eventually it became clearer that this was a perfect stepping stone to start releasing music under my own name.

My debut record is influenced by a broad range of artists who have and still use the full album as a full artistic statement, including Rush, Steven Wilson, Tool, Kate Bush, David Bowie, King Crimson, Tears for Fears, Bjork and Mew (to mention but a few). Despite releasing singles and being in an increasingly singles driven business, it was my full intention for this to be an album experience from start to finish.

Lyrically, the album explores and tackles many themes that veer between disillusion and resolution including unrest and uncertainty across the globe, identity, mental health, high profile scandals, climate change, family and long distance relationships, and the transformations and revelations of travelling or moving somewhere new.

For now, the album will be released in stream only format, with the plans for a limited physical release at a later date this year.

Anything is Possible Lyric Video

Grey Day Lyric Video

Recording a live performance.

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We are in an age where recording devices are aplenty. As is the ability to manipulate the recording to make something appear to be a full take when it’s not.

I take pride when I can do a full performance of something, but sometimes things need editing.

Some people have the privilege and means to record in an environment with endless time to make their craft.

A lot more of us if we do have that space have a precious amount of time in there.

Adrenaline kicks in and we are aware of every error. A 4 minute performance is marred in our head because of an error that took place in a second.

Though, for all this pressure, it’s easy to underestimate a quality that is important.

We are humans, making mistakes and errors is part of the process of making something. When so much has gone well in a take, is it really worth discrediting because of one minuscule discrepancy that only you (or the real analytical snobs) can discern?

There’s also a charm in the imperfection of a note as well.

There’s a subjectivity here, a need for careful judgement, but I know for a fact that aiming for perfection alone sets up a trap for ourselves.

The War of Art

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This book changed the way I think.

Steven Pressfield is the author of ‘The War of Art’ and the ingenious thing he did was give a name to something profound and huge that we all deal with.

Resistance.

Resistance is basically the part of your brain that wants you to be comfortable, not take risks, sit down, shut up and do your (day) job. Resistance doesn’t want you to elevate to higher levels because it’s too afraid of the anguish involved in activity that requires a high level of commitment and effort.

This last week, resistance has been grating away at me. It’s made me want to avoid creating, working and made me second guess myself. It isn’t going to go away.

I listen, I allow these thoughts to process, I say thank you but I’ll keep going and press forward, despite it’s incessant nagging. I finally managed to map out a new track and got into a flow state, where I was continuing with my work until 3am.

Once you overcome those voices, you can then engage with doing creative work and it gets easier once you overcome the hurdle of starting.

If you write, if you create, if you want to do something that elevates you, but you won’t because your being held back by something.

Read this book.

Re-recordings

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Some things can only be done once.

You can try to replicate it, all the ingredients are the same, but the same emotional investment you gave in that moment isn’t quite ticking this time round.

That always comes to mind every time I hear re-recorded releases. I have a few but none of them supersede the original.

Taylor Swift has just released her versions of ‘Fearless’ and I cross checked the two versions out of curiosity.

Everything’s been done with pinpoint accuracy where things should sound the same, but to my ears, they simply don’t!

Swift really caught the zeitgeist for teenage girls with her second album. I was busy listening to prog metal but I remember friends of mine who had her music on repeat.

There’s an authenticity and innocence in her earlier work, and 12 years down the line, I’d argue it’s nigh on impossible to recreate that magic of the original master.

Just imagine the possibility of a re-recording of any favourite records of yours. I can’t think of any scenario where that would be beneficial.

I understand the motivation and the situation with her label has been well documented, and whilst many will believe she’s been done wrong, everything that took place was legal, make of it what you will.

So what’s the intention with these re-recordings? The most obvious thing to me is the dignity of ownership. It could be and does feel like an act of defiance as well. It could be money, but all parties involved have plenty, but then again, being rich can become a hedonic treadmill.

If fans love it, that’s totally cool and to be respected, I’m just weighing in because it interests me and I think there can be a few lessons to consider.

A.) Careful about what you sign up for and what your rights are. Musicians are notorious for falling into this trap. Be enthusiastic about the work, but stand your ground if a contract looks like it’ll take something away from you.

B.) As artists, what’s the best approach with our time, to look forwards or backwards? To continue creating something new or innovative or try to recreate what’s already done?

Disability Sports Wales

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Back in December, I was approached by Disability Sports Wales to provide some music for their awards ceremony.

Their awards ceremony took place online due to Covid restrictions this year but they have done a spectacular job in recognising and celebrating the work that organisations and individuals are doing to provide sporting opportunities that are inclusive and explores possibilities for everyone to reach their potential.

To find out more, the video can be viewed below.

Energy in = energy out

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There are external forces at play, all the time.

We all have different sets of privilege and power.

Nevertheless, I strongly believe the choices we make are still profoundly impactful on the outcomes of where we end up and where we are headed.

Being able to make good choices is a skill, one that requires introspection and a sense of philosophy.

Positive energy that we spread can result in positive outcomes.

But the same goes for negative, and maybe negative energy spreads easier. It certainly feels that way at times.

At this point I share my concern for the conflict in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement was a much needed solution to a deeply rooted and complex problem. The solutions that were made all were put into threat when Brexit happened, something that kept the negotiations going for years.

And when lies are spread and promises broken, serious consequences can happen, and those responsible can’t deny that they were warned about this.

I sincerely hope that there is a peaceful resolve.

Exiles

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This song as well as ‘Anything is Possible’, ‘Continents Away’ and ‘Kaleidoscope’ all explore the resolution element of ‘Between a Disillusion and Resolution’.

There is a common thread of introspection in identity, belonging, curiosity and travel and ‘Exiles’ especially deals with the idea that to find out more of yourself, you may need to venture further afield.

British people working overseas are normally referred to as ‘Expats’. The dictionary definition of this is ‘to exile oneself’.

Moving to the Middle East for four years definitely did this for me. During my time at home in Wales in 2015, I felt disillusioned and afraid that I may end up stuck in a dead end for longer than I’d ever want to be. Sometimes, a complete uproot is what is needed. And when the time was right, I always had home to come back to. I’m home in Wales again for the time being and the experiences I had have been amazing.

This song is for those who venture further afield, looking to explore, learn and challenge themselves.

Anything is Possible

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This song was inspired the Elizabeth Strout novel of the same name.

Strout has this extraordinary way of writing about human beings in small knit communities. It may be fiction, but the feelings, interactions, desires and fears are as real as anything I’ve ever read.

One particularly moment in the book sees a character returning from her work life in the city to her family’s home and village. She ends up being unable to stay due to an overbearing amount of panic and anxiety as if she returned to a childhood trauma.

The whole idea of running away from a place, a memory or a childhood fascinates me, and ‘anything is possible’ was written with the belief of good fortune, good connections and good things being able to happen, no matter what has happened before, so long as you are open to it.

SEASPIRACY

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This Netflix documentary riled a lot of people.

On one hand, you have members of the public and watching in shock horror of the reality of the situation in regards to fishing and the industry.

On the other you have companies responding to defend themselves and marine biologists weighing in to debunk some of the misinformation that was included in the documentary.

And whilst I get that the prediction that fish being extinct from the sea by 2048 and the source used for that number was debunked, the intention was in the shock factor.

Misleading? Perhaps, but humans like predicting the future and we are also terrible at it.

I haven’t eaten fish in 7 years after turning vegetarian so I watched it more out of curiosity than looking for it to change my thinking about my diet.

I however, learnt a lot, and for all the defence and debunking that the documentary will come under scrutiny for, I have to credit Ali Tabrizi for having the courage to tackle a daunting subject, one in which consumers for the most part would rather avoid the reality.

There are revelations where people watching have a right to be angry, here are some that stuck with me:

‘Dolphin safe’ being a completely meaningless and disingenuous message for consumers.

Bycatch being far too unregulated.

Shark fin soup and cutting shark fins being a completely pointless and cruel business.

Media hysteria for plastic straws that ultimately accounts for 0.03% of all plastic in the ocean and the blind eye that has been given to plastic pollution caused by fishing. (One criticism I’ve seen about the documentary is that it downplays consumer habits making a difference, I don’t agree, it was much needed relativism).

Human rights abuse and slavery of poor people in the fish trade.

Developed countries fishing in a way that leads to a domino effect of poverty and health crisis in under developed countries.

Salmon fishing being outright gross.

No proper definition on sustainable fishing. Once again the documentary was criticised for saying there was no such thing as sustainable fishing but it’s a bit understandable for Ali to conclude that that is the case when no one was willing to give him a straight answer. I imagine there is sustainable fishing but I’m none the wiser for what that actually looks like.

I’m sure there’s more but it’s 90 intense minutes and a lot to take in. The documentary is designed to provoke and when there’s not much of a mainstream discussion point that has been established, that’s what it has done so my belief is that it contributes to the narrative in a very positive way.

Final thoughts. The documentary steers towards a conclusion where a plant based diet is recommended but it’s not done in the way that some critics have pointed out. For me, I felt it was more of a personal story and what Ali thought was best for him. In no way, do I believe it imposes the notion that vegan diets are a viable alternative for everyone.

As a vegetarian, I acknowledge it as a personal choice and whilst I encourage it, I don’t expect it to be right for everyone. I do however, think that the western and developed world relies far too heavily on meat.

Ultimately, we are amidst a climate and environmental crisis that I’ve grown up in. I’m sick of people denying it, I’m sick of corporations and politicians turning a blind eye to the facts whilst playing lip service and going down the same consumerist and capitalist path of unsustainably. Our generation and future generations have to live through this and clean up this mess.

Things have to change and they are, but they need to change faster.

And to make it happen, you have to hyperbolise the worse case scenarios, you have to piss people off and you have to make a ruckus.

Ali and his team did just that.

Make of it what you will, and if the fishing industry comes under fire and sees a decline in demand, the world will be a bit better for it.

Continents Away

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I’m lucky to have friends from all over the world. The not so good thing about that is being away from them for long periods of time.

Continents Away was written about the moments you get to spend with the people you love, but those moments heightened by the fact you know that you are going to be thousands of miles away from each other.

Living in the Middle East had me experience sense of transience in a more frequent way than I had ever experienced before.

Relationships that are long distance most definitely teach us to seize the moment, but there is also that desire in us to make sure we support each other whilst we are away drawn to whatever it is that steers us in different directions.

Kaleidoscope

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I remember losing my gaze in a kaleidoscope my Grandmother use to have and the twisting motion bringing about a new wave of symmetrical colours and patterns.

I wrote this song about celebrating curiosity, especially through the form of travel and the whole notion of things being the same, but different.

Working out in the Middle East gave me that opportunity, to see the world but also meet people from everywhere, and I am happy to have friends that are from all the world.

Whilst there are cultural differences, there are many common values we all share no matter where we are from. Especially in a time where Xenophobia has creeped into the narrative, I wanted to write this song to celebrate the idea of cultures and people from anywhere in the world being able to integrate with each other.