Yes, gentle readers, we treated you to an interview with Matthew Ryan on Monday, and today — which just happens to be the day his new album comes out — we’re giving him the full-on Popdose Guide treatment. That’s what the dudes in suits call “synergy,” except it doesn’t usually sound this good.

Like a lot of our Popdose Guides artists, Matthew Ryan has never sold a lot of records, but he’s enjoyed consistently positive reviews throughout his career; his debut inspired critics to use magic words like “Springsteen” and “Waits” in their writeups, and they’ve continued using them ever since.

Such comparisons are rarely helpful to an artist’s career — just ask the dozens of New Dylans who have been without record deals since the mid-’70s — but in Ryan’s case, it’s easy to hear why they’ve been made so often: His bruised-but-beautiful protagonists seek redemption as fervently as any of Springsteen’s working class heroes, and they’re brought to life with hard-fought vocals that suggest a raspier, more tuneful Waits.

Intrigued yet? Good. You’re in for an extra treat this week — we’ve been lucky enough to get a few words about each of these albums from Matthew Ryan himself.

Let’s get started.

May Day (1997)
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“Well, I can’t believe it’s been 11 years since I made this. To me, it sounds young. But I’m proud that my intent was true and I didn’t compromise, since I didn’t know how to make records. Fortunately, David Ricketts (one half of David & David, a really great band from the ’80s) produced it, and knew how to make records. I wanted to make music as raw as the Replacments, Crazy Horse and the Clash, but I wanted it to be as elegant as the Blue Nile & U2. Even then I felt there was strength found in conspiring with the darker self.

“It was on this record, actually during the promotion of the record, that I realized honesty is dangerous. Often when people hear something honest they don’t want to hear themselves in it. I’ve always suspected that those that hated this record, or even still hate my music, probably need it the most. I don’t say that for the sake of ego, but because of what I’m talking about, what I’m trying to communicate. This was a good and a bad time. My soul knew who I was, but my head was too sensitive.” (more…)

Popularity: 12% [?]

He may not be a household name, but Matthew Ryan’s raw, emotional songs have struck a chord with enough fans to support a musical habit that has lasted over a decade and through 11 albums (so far). On the eve of the release of his latest effort, Matthew Ryan vs. the Silver State, he took time out to talk with Popdose about his past, present, and future. Read on!

Judging from the title and the album cover, I was expecting an album of Irish battle songs!

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But that really isn’t the case.

Well, they kinda are …

They’re pretty low-key for battle songs …

(Laughs)

… and I think someone who listened to your last album, From a Late Night High-Rise, might look at this and assume that it’s sort of a rockin’ response to what was a very personal set of songs. But it isn’t really that either.

Well, it’s hard for me to be objective, but I think it has an emotional presence that’s a little more amplified.

It does feel like a more muscular record, more live, for lack of a better word, but it doesn’t feel like you’re bashing out the stuff you were carrying around for High-Rise.

Right. Well, I think in the last few years my work has gotten a little more confidential, and I think that might be a sign of maturity. You know? I wouldn’t say this record’s more a whisper than a scream, but I guess it is. And the things I’m writing about, I’d rather provoke a conversation than rage from a soapbox.

The songs have a really natural flow to them. I just noticed this morning that the opening track, “Dulce et Decorum Est” (download), is seven minutes long.

(Laughs) That’s good to hear, man. That’s what I’d hope would happen, ’cause if you’ve got a story to tell and you’re telling it well and it has its own cinema about it, time should become a bit more elastic, you know? (more…)

Popularity: 8% [?]