Serena Ryder recently released her EP Told You in a Whispered Song. It is one of the most promising things released within the past year outside of the country genre.
Ryder’s musical, writing and vocal style is reminiscent of Alanis Morrisette. In terms of the music, it is your normal bluesy pop/folk rock style; one of the most effective styles in commercial music nowadays if done correctly. To a certain extent it’s safe, familiar and easy if you want to stick to basics. While it stays pretty standard musically, she does throw in variations at the right times. When these style variations come in it is seamless.
The writing comes across in a story telling, country-style. The beauty of this writing is that for it to work, you have to be completely honest. To fear being honest in this technique will ultimately destroy the work, no matter how beautiful the music is.
Fortunately for Ryder, her writing comes across as completely honest. It works perfectly and is nothing short of poetry. The stories are the usual suspects for country writing, covering love gone right and wrong. It is relatable because people go through love and loss almost daily.
The vocals are beautiful. Part of the honesty in music comes across through the voice. The emotion-drenched voice Ryder brings to the table is absolutely moving and brings an air of authenticity.
Rather than the music being nothing more than a paycheck or a job, this woman is bearing her soul through her music. I bring up the paycheck issue because quite a bit of what is coming out lately has been rushed for the sake of getting a product out for the public to buy. The necessary time was taken to work on this music as a whole product and it shows.
So here’s the bottom line: it’s absolutely beautiful. It’s honest, it’s poetry, and lastly it’s a buy. It is definitely worth the money spent on it. Enjoy.