Album Review: RY X Is Ready To “Unfurl” Your Heart

RY X has a voice that turns me to ash. He might as well call his vocals the “Thanos Snap”. Yet, his level of vaped fragility is perfect for the themes of devastation that unravel in his new album, Unfurl.

“Hounds,” “Bound,” and “Fumbling Prayer” are just a few tracks that make you want to let your heart weep. Unfurl is the record for those that know what it is to lose; to have a dream suddenly fade. Whether it be a career goal, a home, or the future you planned with a loved one, at least once, you will know what it is to believe your are set only to see the opposite unfurl. Yet, not many can put disillusion into such a gorgeous, sonic plain quite like RY X. He knows how to capture the up-tempos and quiet melodies of not knowing what to do after all you’ve known is undone.

It may seem strange, but I could not stop imagining how EPIC this record is going to be live. Throughout Unfurl, I could see the crowds’ hands rising up to reach RY X’s musical common ground. Songs such as, “The Water,” “Foreign Tides,” and “YaYaYa” are going to have people singing along with their hearts; as if RY X has found a way to weave rhythms and verses into heartbeats. Yet, with a voice as succulent and smoked as his, it’s hard not to give into the emotional catharsis of Unfurl. He lulls you into venting, and build a soundscape that guides your feelings out of you and into the atmosphere. 

Sonically, Unfurl feels like composers Alan Silvestri and Frank Ocean decided to produce an album together. RY X’s capacity to combine synths and strings is simply beautiful and smart. His entire soundscape is a bed for him to rest his voice upon, which makes his vocality as physicalized and full as a body. Overall, RY X’s Unfurl is an unmissable album of 2019. To Buy RY X’s Unfurl on February 15 Click Here.