Everlasting

Ryan is breaking new territory with Everlasting by expanding the depth of his music; incorporating live guitar, percussion, strings and bass with his signature piano melodies. The first thing you’ll notice is the warm live bass permeating on album starter "Together We Will Conquer" as it segues into syncopated percussion rhythms. Moby, Robert Miles and BT come to mind with a couple of his other songs that deliver upbeat break-beats, lush synth washes, deep rolling bass and Ryan’s beautiful melodies. Each song breathes from dense instrumentation to expansive openness; drifting from intense moments to lullaby peacefulness. "Young at Heart" builds from the brisk-paced percussion into ebbing strings that balance the song into a vibrant, upbeat number. Show stopper "Watch the Sky" ups the ante with a soft guitar lead accompanying his piano – showcasing Ryan’s multi-instrumental skills. Album closer "Everlasting Light" brings Ryan back to his roots with a very simple piano outro –! demonstrating Ryan’s growth and his ability to deliver a stunning album that is easily digestible. It’s that good!


You might not expect this kind of music from someone who composes soundtracks for the Christian Broadcasting Network, but on his own, Ryan Farish creates a cinematically sweeping, chilled electronica. After drifting toward a saccharine sweetness on his last CD, From the Sky, the multi-instrumentalist has raised the energy level and rhythm intensity on Everlasting, laying down an aggressive bottom with live drums, bass, and even breakbeats that recharge his electronica-based grooves. Songs like "Mercy Follows" are almost danceable. But Farish is a melodicist at heart, and that still dominates his simple but evocative compositions, played mostly on piano and surrounded in a swirled palette of sampled flutes, synthesizer squiggles, and percussive colors. Farish has an over-reliance on samples that can give his music a generic feel, but he also has some distinctive voices, like the cross between a violin and a Chinese sho that blows through "We Are Free" and "Dedicated" like a banshee wind through high mountains. Like labelmate Amethystium, Ryan Farish doesn't take the kind of emotional or musical chances that would make this profound, remaining content to stake out a lighter, more melodically uplifting brand of electronica. --John Diliberto