Matthew Ryan has released Starlings Unadorned, a collection of “cinematic acoustic” versions of some of the songs on 2017’s Hustle Up Starlings. The new album also features some unreleased songs and demos. Hustle Up Starlings shows a different side of the full-band versions of the exciting original album.
Ryan explains on Bandcamp that Starlings Unadorned came out of a process: “Often after you finish a new album, you have to sit down and re-learn the songs on your acoustic because of all the flourishes and skin a band brings to them in the studio.” Then, he added some other unreleased songs that seemed to fit well with the new album.
We previously posted the rocking version of the song “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator” from Hustle Up Starlings. That video featured young women portraying Ryan and his band. Starlings Unadorned includes a new version of the song.
Ryan is promoting the “new” version of the song with with a new video. Like the song’s earlier video, the new one also includes Chloe Barczak (“vocals”) and Carina Begley (“guitar”).
Gorman Bechard, who directed the video for the original version of “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator, directed the new video for the acoustic version. Once he heard this acoustic version that Ryan was releasing on Starlings Unadorned, he contacted Ryan and asked to make a new video. Check it out.
Ryan explained on Facebook how the young women in the videos for the song moved him in an unexpected way, connecting the perspective of youth to the troubles of the world today. “[T]here was this heart in [the video], this depth of story that I (as a person now more experienced by time and the beautiful and horrible things our world participates in, or observes, or does, or hopes to salve) was confronted with.”
Below is the original version of “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator.” While I love this original version, the softer acoustic version adds another dimension to the song, revealing additional wonderful layers.
As I listen to the new release, enjoying these new recordings, I find that one of the great things about Starlings Unadorned is that it opens another window on Hustle Up Starlings.
Starlings Unadorned is available through Bandcamp. Sales of the new album will help support Ryan’s summer tour with The Gaslight Anthem. Our original review of2017’s Hustle Up Starlings is here.
What do you think of the acoustic version of “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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