We Speak Music
Finding Clarity in Chaos: The Heartfelt Story Behind Ryan Toomin’s ‘Disarray’
Ryan Toomin’s debut album, Disarray, is a warm, introspective collection that blends indie rock, power pop, and soft rock influences into a sound as heartfelt as it is personal. From the opening track, Toomin sets the tone for an album that is equal parts reflective and hopeful. The record feels intimate and deeply honest, with Toomin playing every instrument himself, a testament to his multi-instrumental talent and DIY approach to music. Disarray, is a record that invites listeners to walk alongside Toomin as he navigates life’s ups and downs, all while delivering lush melodies and thoughtful songwriting.
The album’s emotional core revolves around Toomin’s journey from Los Angeles to Lexington, Kentucky, a change that shaped much of the material. The title track, “Disarray,” captures the confusion of personal growth, layering melancholy guitar riffs with warm vocal harmonies that echo the bittersweet nature of change.
Stylistically, Disarray, pulls from Toomin’s early influences, with traces of Elliott Smith’s melancholic lyricism and Radiohead’s atmospheric soundscapes evident throughout. His experience in producing and recording the album on his own shines, particularly in the layered guitar work and crisp vocal arrangements.
One of the most remarkable aspects of, Disarray, is the emotional range Toomin conveys over just nine tracks. The album moves from somber reflections on loneliness to songs that explore hope and new beginnings, most notably on tracks like “Bruises” which finds him emerging from the shadows of past relationships into a more peaceful place. The instrumental arrangements reflect this shift, moving from sparse, acoustic moments to fuller, more anthemic compositions. Toomin’s voice, warm and inviting, guides listeners through each stage of the journey with a sincerity that feels refreshing.
In all, Disarray, is an impressive debut, marked by honest storytelling, intricate musicianship, and a sense of vulnerability that makes it stand out in the indie rock landscape. It’s clear that Toomin poured himself into every aspect of the album, making it a fully realized reflection of his artistic vision. By the end of the record, listeners will feel as though they’ve experienced a deeply personal transformation, and, much like Toomin, they’ll come away from it with a sense of calm after the storm.
We Speak Music
Host Bodies’ track ‘On A Roll’ Gets a Psychedelic Reinvention from Soul Glitch
Ten years after Host Bodies first released the album Daily Apparatus, “On A Roll” has found a completely new groove.
For the Daily Apparatus: 10 Year Remixes project, multi-instrumentalist and producer Nicholas Hasty, under his Soul Glitch moniker, takes the original electronic-rock track and pulls it into deeper, more psychedelic territory.
The remix keeps the energy of Host Bodies intact while opening up the track with new beats, electronic textures and expressive saxophone solos. Electric guitar, bass and layered production give it a rich, genre-blurring sound that sits somewhere between indie electronic, jazztronica, soultronica and alternative dance.
There’s something particularly satisfying about hearing a decade-old track treated not as a relic, but as raw material. Soul Glitch reshapes “On A Roll” , finding new spaces within the original and bringing his own musical language into the mix.
The result is energetic, sensual, psychedelic and unapologetically expansive.
Ten years on, “On A Roll” proves that sometimes the best way to celebrate where a song came from is to find somewhere completely new for it to go.
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