Ryan Beatty Attempts to Answer the Unanswerable in 'Calico'
Photo: Peter De Potter
Singer-songwriter Ryan Beatty has unveiled his third studio album, Calico, alongside a wistful visual accompaniment, overflowing with glowing pop introspections.
The lead single, “Ribbons,” leads us into Calico with all the grace of a well-aimed heartbreak. It’s both a deeply personal yet peaceful song, using doubled vocals and reverb to open the space one line at a time. Strings vignette the arrangement, acting as atmospheric representations of the track’s melancholy. The line I keep going back to, out of the whole album, is the aching, “Who’s gonna hold you when you sleep? / But it’s brave to be nothing to no one at all...”
“Bruises Off the Peach” is the sonic embodiment of coming to terms, whether it be with a relationship or your own inner turmoil. Its acoustic guitar dances like light off a lake while the cavernous reverb of the vocals slowly narrows into a warmer, settled sound. It grows to answer its own repeated question, spinning the grief-fueled crooning of “What did it ever have to do with me?” into a meditative statement by the song's culmination.
“Cinnamon Bread” stands out with its cinematic strings and wandering piano that waltzes to its own plot line alongside the lyrics, while “Andromeda” winds through moments of close, raw vocals and stacks of lush harmonies. “Bright Red” feels like an intermission of sorts, swirling and swaying over a cyclical progression. It feels less contained in its own moment, which seems to be an overarching theme for the album, crying out through reflective lyrics.
The seven-minute journey of “Hunter” exists somewhere between Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal” and the cult TV show Twin Peaks. It’s haunting yet soothing, detail-oriented yet expansive. Beatty holds our hand and guides us through the vision of Calico in this exploratory song. It has a similar sonic palette as the visuals of the accompanying Calico film, which is glowing and nostalgic in all the right, wistful ways.
We continue to witness Beatty’s cinematic storytelling in “White Teeth,” mottled with vibrant imagery. In complementary fashion, “Multiple Endings” is a more intimate conversation, directive and deliberately sparse in its production, leaving room for the lyrical delivery. Beatty finishes out with “Little Faith,” leaving listeners with a ghost of Calico echoing even after its end. He repeats, “What’s it gonna take? Have a little faith...”
At its core, that’s the essence of Calico—the unanswerable question intertwining with graceful acceptance. Ryan Beatty’s words and melodies flow uninhibited throughout this album, bolstered by the lucid string arrangements and guitars. It’s a transformative step for the visionary singer-songwriter, an intimate and admirable embrace.
Listen to Calico below:
