Charles Ryan Davis – Six

Giddy energy runs through Charles Ryan Davis’s dazzling “Six”. With a clear indebtedness to jazz, he incorporates a wide plethora of genres into the mix. Jazz fusion, twee pop, post rock, all of these come together in glowing gorgeous ways. The tremendous amount of color gives it a true feeling of pure, unfiltered joy. References to those who truly do it themselves, those free-spirited ones like R. Stevie Moore’s intensely emotional, personal pieces of work with a hint of Badly Drawn Boy’s instrumentally vibrant works. Truly Charles Ryan Davis’s true musical comparison however is the equally keyboard-centric chord master of Max Tundra. Akin to Tundra, Davis proves to have an uncanny knack for creating incredible chord shifts and uniquely compelling melodies.
By far the heart and soul comes from Davis’s incredible wordplay. A mixture of storytelling and poetry he lets the songs unfurl in a wonderfully playful way. The lyricism draws a personal mythology, one that touches upon the beauty of the natural world. Highly unusual to have such a wonderful focus of the world at large it has a soothing, reassuring quality to it. Rhythms go for an upbeat quality to them, drawing from the equally childlike sense of wonder that Nathan Michel shown through his “The Beast” album. Pieces within the album come together to make the entire album akin to a greater story, each song merely a chapter.
“Night Walk” opens the album setting the tone. Drums have a nimbleness to them. The keyboards feel outright alive for they have a jazz-rock fusion to them. A nice buildup the final verse works wonders alongside the cyclical nature of the grooves. Urgency defines the pulsing tempo of “Time Waste”, for the tension of the work is palpable. The release feels earned and satisfying. Letting things slow down a bit “Heartedly Whole” shows off a sense of true loveliness. Everything about it positively glimmers with tremendous care.
Swinging into things “Landmine Waltz” chooses a woozy style. Drums have an off-kilter quality to them, touching upon Jon Brion’s quirky demeanor. Full of a bit of humor, even the lyrics emphasize this surreal quality. A bit of a fairytale filters into the overall spirit of “Little Witches” for it all has a gentleness to it, one that works wonders. By far the highlight of the album comes with the chords of the finale “Unwritten Writer”. Tremendously nimble, the whole of the work shows off Davis’s attention to detail.
Charles Ryan Davis explores a musical world that feels uniquely his own on the infinitely cool crisp tones of the timeless “Six”.