ryan lindsey
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About
ryan lindsey is the product of growing up in oklahoma the youngest of three boys. after being exposed to the music of his brothers and their friends, he started on the path early of wanting to write his own. at the age of fourteen ryan was playing little league and playing in a band. over the past eleven years ryan has continued to perfect his songwriting and still considers himself growing. through the past four years ryan has given his services to a couple of bands; cheyenne and starlight mints. although he no longer performs with cheyenne fulltime, ryan still takes part in the recording process. lindsey now splits time performing and writing with the starlight mints and pursuing his own career. ryan has recently signed a publishing deal with bug music through the help of van dyke parks, who is also a bug artist. signing with bug has opened a new world of opportunities for this young songwriter. and with more oportunities, come more listeners.
REVIEWS
Pop music is really a talent search, and sometimes the most promising results can sneak into your ears from out of left fi eld completely. Ryan Lindsey is an Oklahoman who was in a band there called Cheyenne, before venturing out on his own. His debut album, White Paper Beds, has the freshness of someone who probably doesn't ask for a lot of advice, but follows what he feels in his heart and hears in his head. There is no over-processed feel to these twelve songs, but rather the freshness of floating in a creative space with no restrictive definitions. The best of Brian Wilson's songs wrote the book for music like this, and the fact that Ryan Lindsey's sound is able to evoke Wilson's name is a good omen that we'll be hearing much more from Lindsey. He also plays guitar with fellow Oklahomans Starlight Mints, but for those looking for a pop album in 2006 with plenty of mystery and imagination, White Paper Beds is the perfect place to start. ✹
-Bill Bentley (The Sherman Oaks Sun)
Solo debuts are tricky, but luckily for Ryan Lindsey, White Paper Beds is one of those albums where everything seems to fall into place exactly where it should. As the touring keyboardist for fellow Oklahomans The Starlight Mints, Lindsey's music career has been quiet thus far, but that might be about to change. As White Paper Beds shows, Lindsey needed little time to find his sound, which falls somewhere between Pete Yorn's slight melancholy and the quirky pop of Ben Kweller.
“Take this I'm really not so qualified,” Lindsey playfully sings on the delightfully neurotic opener, “Future Unemployment.” Just a few chords later, his apathy adequately represented, he teases, “Ha, ha, ha, I can take my clothes off.” High choir sounds whir in the background, lending a Disney soundtrack quality to the song. It's this combination that makes Lindsey truly unique and artful, and not just another singer-songwriter.
As there is no filler on White Paper Beds “Future Unemployment” pleases as much as the rest of the record. Some songs, such as “My Place in the Hills” and “Put Your Trust In Ross” are piano based, and are similar XO-era Elliott Smith in their well-balanced production and wispy, layered vocals. Others, such as “Introspective Personality,” with its acoustic guitar, prominent drums, and bells, are lighter pop. Both styles work well for Lindsey and producer Chad Copelin, who filled in many instruments throughout the album.
The title track, “White Paper Beds,” is the real gem here, combining Lindsey's dark edge with his sunnier side. It begins slow and brooding, with cello added to Lindsey's piano and vocals. After a suspenseful pause, the drums pound in and the song picks up into a perfectly orchestrated pop song, complete with a dance break.
“What I Am” is another well-constructed song, paired with simple lyrics. “Your stare tells me you think I act too much like a kid, but that's what I am,” Lindsey sings as gorgeous cello, banjo and lap steel follow. The closing track, “Open Late,” is almost heartbreakingly lush, with a quiet and lonely melody that could be the step-child to Pete Yorn's Musicforthemorningafter. “The sign out front says ‘open late,'” he sings. “Will you be open too?”
The real strength of White Paper Beds is its arrangements. Lyrics are sparse, but that doesn't seem to matter, as Lindsey could write a whole song containing only vocal “do das” and “yeahs” and have it turn out not lacking at all. In fact, “Summertime” is just that, containing only one line of real words, “Making my way through the days of summertime.” The bass carries the melody, while piano and Lindsey's “yeahs” simply fill in its charm.
It's daunting for a musician to break away from the comforts of a band and step out on his own, but Ryan Lindsey seemed to know exactly what he was doing. If his name never becomes widely known it won't matter, because White Paper Beds is more real than pop success ever is.
