If you are a fan of the subtle delicacy of melody and soft vocal excellence, Ryan Adams is an artist that should be on your radar. This past week, Adams released another graceful tune from his upcoming complete album, Prisoner. As it casts a gentle rain on the singer/songwriter realm, “To Be Without You” reflects a more tender execution of music.
Adams provokes a folksy vocal vibe while plucking beautifully through this short piece. It shows itself to be hardly complimentary to the previously released song from the same album, “Do You Still Love Me?” The two songs from Prisoner contrast greatly, as “Do You Still Love Me?” is a much more aggressive portrayal of emotion through a stronger guitar presence and weightier vocal emotion. There is no way to judge how Adams’ upcoming album is going to pan out based on the stark differences in the tones of each of these songs.
“To Be Without You” echoes the elegant nature of the cover performances that this artist is most recognized for. In 2015, Adams released cover tributes to Taylor Swift’s most recent album 1989 practically in its entirety. This work extracts the purity within the personable nature of the lyrics that does not fully come through in the original recordings of Swift’s songs. Adams strips songs such as “Blank Space” down to their fragile skeleton and offers a new, more intimate interpretation of the songs he covers. Similarly charming are his covers of “Out Of The Woods” and Oasis’ “Wonderwall”.
This alluring tranquility is amplified in this newest single release and is sure to come through in the other songs that will surface to reveal a new album and its full features. Keep an eye out this February for more of Ryan Adams and his gratifying sound through Prisoners.
