Whereas much of Walker's past output is best described as jams that only fully ignite during unpredictably evolving high octane live explorations, Golden Sings That Have Been Sung comprises of actual songs. Walker's proven his merits as a singer and guitarist many times over, but it's now necessary to also rate him as a songwriter. Van Morrison is an apt point of reference in the sense that whilst it would be madly exaggerated to compare Walker's third album with the ageless wonder of Astral Weeks, it does represent a leap in creativity that brings to mind transition Morrison performed between the spirited but predictable rhythm 'n' blues rave-ups of Them and the meditative hymns of his first proper solo album. Worthy of comparison to the contemplative peaks of 70's Van Morrison (whose underrated slow-burner beauty "Fair Play" Walker has been covering recently), the latter cut must rank amongst the most startlingly intense and intimate performances committed to disc this year. Not anymore from the hushed, dreamy delicacy of "A Choir Apart" to carefully phrased "Funny Thing She Said", the weary ache of which is accentuated by a scratchy violin solo that appears to have waltzed in from a wake, Walker sounds like no one else but himself. No one with functioning ears could have reasonably doubted Walker's abilities in this area, but there have been times when the over-generously administered ecstatic yelps have ventured worryingly close to mimicry, if not parody, of Tim Buckley's vocal mannerisms. Everything else has acquired whole new levels of ambition, confidence and originality. Only the remarkably fluid yet showing-off averse - Walker treats guitar predominantly as a rhythm instrument - acoustic guitar-playing and the general musical milieu - a heady cross-pollination between folk, jazz, blues and psychedelia that was buried in the outer reaches of obscurity for ages but is now quite hip - remain unchanged. You won't have to spend that long in the company of Golden Sings That Have Been Sung to grasp why Walker's grown tired of his old stuff. A huge step forward from 2014’s convincing but undoubtedly derivative debut All Kinds of You, the hypnotic, circular grooves of last year’s Primrose Green catapulted the 27-year old much closer to a sound that’s genuinely his and his alone, even as tunes such as “Same Minds” and “Summer Dress” remained deep in debt to such formative influences as John Martyn and Tim Buckley. As such, Ryley Walker‘s recent unflattering comments about his second album are somewhat surprising.
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