![]() “A Lenticular Slap” exemplifies Walker’s sloshed-on-words approach. None of the lyrics on Fable lands as bluntly as “I’d rather be dead than to see you cry” from Primrose Green’s “Sweet Satisfaction.” Rather, idiosyncratic details abound and veiled meanings reign. He obliquely poeticizes around his subjects, speaking in riddles as esoteric as they are memorable. These are undoubtedly the album’s most straightforward lyrics.Įlsewhere, it’s clear that Walker has developed into a writer who turns the mundane into the profound. The refrain, “I am wise/I am so fried/Rang dizzy inside/Fuck me, I’m alive,” points to Walker’s amazement at reversing his downward spiral. “We’re all lot lizards parked outside your door,” Walker sings, later concluding, “Always shit-brained when I’m pissed.” Longtime fans may wonder, how did we get to this pomp? But “Rang Dizzy” floats things back to Earth with cello-augmented baroque ’n’ roll. The song soon downshifts into a dulcet burble of folk-rock with an earnest, Sebadoh-esque melodic contour that later splays out into surging proggy climaxes. ![]() On opening track “Striking Down Your Big Premiere,” though, you may gasp at the outrageously bold intro that leads into a motif of Keith Emersonian grandiosity, bolstered by rococo, fiery guitar riffing from Bill MacKay. He got happy, but, mercifully, not sappy. After a failed suicide attempt in 2019, Walker sought help through meds, therapy, sobriety, and he saved himself. ![]() As he admitted in an interview conducted in early April, he’d been sabotaging himself for years, saying that “redemption, joy, and gratitude” inform Course in Fable. Find his itinerary below.Another factor in Walker’s artistic resurgence has been resolving his substance abuse problems. With so much new music support, Walker has a huge tour schedule set for the rest of the year. (DMB did just score a record-setting seventh consecutive No. The results suggest perhaps Matthews’ songwriting deserves more credit than tastemakers give it. ![]() Walker has rearranged the songs in his own jazz-tinged and breathy interpretations alongside frequent collaborators Andrew Scott Young and Ryan Jewell. His version of The Lillywhite Sessions is a “powerful, heartfelt meditation on the twists and turns of an individual’s musical journey across a life of enthusiastic and curious listening,” according to a press release. Now, Walker is revisiting the bootleg album with his own unique sensibilities. Many of the songs were later re-recorded for 2002’s Busted Stuff. However, the band and label decided to shelve the songs - Matthews instead wrote Everyday alongside producer Glen Ballard - until they were leaked via Napster as The Lillywhite Sessions. Recorded between 19, the sessions with producer Steve Lillywhite were intended to serve as DMB’s follow-up to their third full-length, Before These Crowded Streets. For Chicago experimentalist Ryley Walker, that hidden truth is that one of pop-rock’s most pilloried yet popular superstars, Dave Matthews Band, actually makes up the foundation of his own musical journey. In an attempt to free himself from shame and embrace the validity of his youthful fascination with the group, Walker has announced a full covers album of DMB’s lost 2001 LP, The Lillywhite Sessions. No matter how hip we try to appear, we all have some dark corner of our formative years that we try to keep secret from the world.
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