Album Review: Ryan Downey - Running

Ryan Downey’s last record, a mostly covers a cappella mini-album, was a sublime experiment of surprising depth, simply constructed from beautiful vocals and resourceful body percussion.

On Running, the centrepiece is still that voice. Downey's seductive baritone can melt steel beams so it will turn your knees to butter, guaranteed. But now, instead of hand claps and looped harmonies, it's couched in lush instrumentation and diaphanous synths. His alt-folk core has been augmented with pop and rock, the trusty nylon strings from his Venice Music days backed up by dirtier jabs of electric guitar and skittering 808s.

In the opening line of the title track, Downey claims, "I could write a song to you so sweet, it’d raise you to your feet and you’d come running". Testify.