Back in November of 2007, I reviewed Serena Ryder’s EP I Told You in a Whispered Song. That was my introduction to the Canadian born singer. Nearly two years later, Ryder is set to release a new three song EP titled Sweeping the Ashes that highlights her raspy delivery, emotional lyrics and impressive guitar skills.
Ryder is blessed with a three octave range, which allows her to express a range of emotions. She doesn’t use her voice like Mariah Carey to blow the roof off a building in the figurative sense, but in the way Carole King or Celine Dion have used their voices to draw audience’s right into their songs. Ryder said in a recent press release, “I think maybe the reason people are feeling detached from a lot of the music that gets played on the radio today is because everyone’s trying so hard to be their own island, their own original person.” While some may be reminded of luminaries like Melissa Etheridge, Joni Mitchell and maybe even Lyle Lovett because of her lyrical style, few will argue that Serena Ryder has a sound all her own.
Ryder covers a large chunk of the musical landscape for a three song EP. The title track sounds like it has its roots in pop music and should be radio friendly. With little more than guitar and a light drumbeat, “Sweeping the Ashes” highlights Ryder’s impressive vocal abilities. The rougher edges of the soft rocker “Little Bit of Red” has a melodic, sing a-long quality that will keep this one in your head all day long. Her fiery outbursts when she dives in, “Your black and red needs a little bit of red,” will resonate with Melissa Etheridge fans. The final track, “Blown Like the Wind at Night” is a mid-tempo folk rocker that crackles with the anger and frustration of singer/songwriters twice the age of Ryder, born in 1983.
Though Sweeping the Ashes is a mere three songs, Ryder manages to cover heartbreak, disappointment, anger and emotions in between. Her voice is rough but melodic, and her sound ranges from folk to rock, Check out Sweeping the Ashes, available on ITunes October 14, 2008.
