Album Review: Terence Ryan Gives A Soulful Cry For Middle America In “Don’t Panic”
“Well, HELLO Terence Ryan!” is my most basic reaction to Terence Ryan’s debut, Don’t Panic. For a man that swims and strokes in love and disdain for social bonds, the singer’s voice seems to cool to panic. He may speak upon the anxiety of living poor, bored, and politically disenfranchised, but he does it in away that seduces you to think socially.
While many artists aim to make you think of yourself either socially or spiritually, Ryan intertwines the two so that you can witness how your actions and inactions play upon your spirit’s social standing. Don’t Panic reveals how hard work, little pay, drug abuse, government deception/ hysteria, and even seasonal depression work within the now-waning middle class of America. Ryan, like most of us, is struggling to get more than what he has, and, similarly, it is to give back to his community, friends, and family. This motivation is so common that Don’t Panic feels more like a friend’s opus than the soulful debut of an artist. “Family Tree”, “Just A Spark”, and “To Live And Die In New England” shows the emotional highs and lows of feeling like your home is both your safe space and prison. While home is “where your heart is”, when you cannot afford to go out with friends or even pay the bills for said home, it can turn into a cage. In this sense, Ryan’s lyrics can feel “too real”, which is a good problem to have. “Soul Lay Open” and “Supernovacane” elaborate the desperation to not feel the heartbreak of our daily debts. Even writing this review makes me sentimental because Ryan truly hits the pain and search for distraction that comes with being “disenfranchised”. Yet, despite being an album about hurt, Ryan has a voice that heals.
I can describe Ryan’s voice one word “YAAAASSSSS!!!!!!”. “Hindsight”, “Nothin”, and “Mean It” are just a few songs where Ryan turns regret and reproach into the coolest emotional platforms for a voice. You feel the truth and vulnerability of his lyrics because his voice is undeniably good. Part of what makes soul and rock n’ roll, both of Ryan’s influences, is that show emotional truths can be hard but sound glorious. In a world that cannot handle the truth,Terence Ryan aims to show it to you in a way that still keeps its “sentimental punch” , while kicking you to do something about it After awhile, you cannot make mourning your only reaction to all that is sociopolitically and economically denied and taken from you. Terence Ryan has chosen music as his counter act/ reaction, and it only his listeners to choose him, as well. For More Information On Terence Ryan and To Buy Don’t Panic On June 23 Click Here.
