SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BILL RYDER-JONES – IECHYD DA

BILL RYDER-JONES
IECHYD DA
DOMINO RECORDING COMPANY

Artists don’t always get the attention or recognition they truly deserve. So far, Bill Ryder-Jones has received some cult fandom, first as The Coral guitarist, then as a solo artist. Yet even within The Coral or for his previous solo efforts, Ryder-Jones still has not gotten that wider recognition that his music, particularly his songwriting, deserved. Maybe his fifth solo effort, Iechyd Da (Welsh term for good health), will do that for him, as it is an album that certainly deserves it.

As on his previous efforts, it is primarily Ryder-Jones’ brilliant songwriting that is at the forefront, this time fully realized and presented in some delightful, subdued, intimate arrangements that at some points, as on “I Hold Something In My Hand” or “This Can’t Go On”, turn the songs into grand, modern baroque pop.

Essentially, Ryder-Jones came up with a fully-realized, mature set of songs that not only bring that good health to him, but to his listeners too.

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