Out November 5th on RYTONE Entertainment
Presave or Pre-order the entire album here
Through the highs and lows of the journey we call life, Ryan Farish reminds you to return to the consistent beat of your heart with his album Rhythm of the Seasons. This new body of work hones in on his signature sound of uplifting melodic, trance, and deep house while veering towards new analog techniques in the mix and mastering process. The interaction between ambient instrumentals and rich percussive elements throughout the album resembles the underlying heartbeat that prevails as a constant in our lives.
Farish’s goal in the production process has always been to search for the sounds that exist within the music. His latest album focuses on the interchange between notes and melodies in contrast with the downbeats of each track. The theme of rhythm persists through the album, which means so much more to Farish than just timing. Rhythm of the Seasons captures an impalpable dance between drum patterns and sweeping melodies.
The album comprises eleven songs and opens with the title track, which serves as the gate into Farish’s world of symphonic ambiance. Rhythm of the Seasons lays the groundwork and sets the album into motion, while “Wild Horses” brings texture to the album and informs the cover art. Through the use of bells, chimes, and soothing vocals, “Wild Horses” encapsulates the feeling of freedom in the vast experience of nature.
Farish shares with us more of his musical voice with “Stay”, introducing his own vocals into the mix. The vocal sample is doubled and processed to create an entirely new melody that brings nuance to the track. “Safe In The Hills” captures the comfort that can be found in channeling one’s happy place. The mountains have always brought great comfort to Farish, and in the conception of this song, he recalled vivid memories of camping with his family in the Blue Ridge mountains. Farish hopes that “Safe In The Hills” will bring you to recall your happy places when you take a listen.
The album ultimately challenges you to live the present moment and build momentum as you pulse through life. When the rug is pulled out from under you, the album serves as a reminder that the beat of life goes on. In the mix of it all, Ryan Farish is thrilled to present Rhythm of the Seasons.
Tracklist:
- Rhythm of the Seasons
- Je Ne Sais Quoi
- Safe In The Hills
- Stay
- Synchronicity
- Follow Your Heart
- Paradise
- Dusk Till Dawn
- Wild Horses
- Golden Hour
- Drifting
Here is a track-by-track description by Ryan Farish…
In Ryan’s musical journey, he has always been fascinated with rhythm and not just in music but found almost everywhere in life. The rhythm was a focal point in the making of this album and how notes and melodic ideas balance against the downbeat of the music. Ryan also continued on from the previous album Halcyon to deep dive into the analog process with music production, mixing, and mastering process by using the analog’s tubes and transistors to bring warmth and clarity to the songs – all to find the music inside the music and to produce the very best music he can possibly release.
1. Rhythm of the Seasons
The title track to the album, is a special track for me, because I feel like with this track I’ve been able to bridge the gap between my earlier sound, and voice, with my current production style, which feels very satisfying to be able to marry the two together. The intro always pulls me in, and is where the track and album began, the underlying rhythms represent the forward motion and momentum that began with this track, and carried me to the last note of this album.
2. Je Ne Sais Quoi
Going back as long as I can remember, early on friends would tell me that no matter what genre of music I was creating, they could always tell it was me, there was a “voice” in the music. It wasn’t until later in my life and journey in music that I grew to appreciate what that meant, and then began to embrace this fact rather than continuously try to grow away from it. That’s in our nature, to evolve and grow… But the beauty for me came in the realization that my voice was the one thing I should never ignore or let go of. The title to this track came from light hearted conversations with a friend, while discussing my analog gear, and specifically the analog mix bus that I have built which I mix and record my music through. We discussed how the tubes, transistors, saturation, and colors all from the analog gear added something special to the sound and the music, a certain Je Ne Sais Quoi.
3. Safe in the Hills
We all have a happy place or places, memories or physical places we can remember or imagine that give us a sense of freedom within. For me, music has always been such a place, and often when I’m producing or writing a new song, it will feel almost attached to a “place” in my mind, or a place I’ve been to. The mountains have always been such a special place for me, along with the gentle rolling hills. While creating this track, vivid memories of camping with my family in the Blue Ridge mountains came to mind. Specifically, the excited and open feeling we share together as we are traveling on our way to the hills and mountains, Safe and away from the usual distractions of life, where we can really connect and make memories together.
4. Stay
This track continues with the theme of the album, and introduces something unique to the album, which is my own vocals. I started by manipulating a vocal sample, and then doubled over it with my own voice and added processing to make it all work. The morning of the day I recorded my vocals, I had stumbled on a youtube video where a pop producer was using his iPhone to quickly record a melody/idea. He ended up using the recording from his phone in the final recording. I was intrigued by this, and so later that evening when I was in the studio, I decided to give it a try myself. Sometimes we can get bogged down with needing to find the “perfect microphone” with the right settings with the perfect “preamps”, but in this scenario the fast, and seamless workflow of recording my vocal on my iphone, using Airdrop to send to my mac, and then continuing to just “work” on the music in the inspired moment, turned out very satisfying for me. The music is what matters, in whatever way we can make the music happen. Expensive studio mic, or iPhone mic… Doesn’t matter. The end result made me smile and has changed my thoughts and workflow.
5. Synchronicity
This track really felt special to me, from the beginning in fact, as it really marries the classic RF voice, with exactly the current moment and current sound I’m working in. For me, it felt completely natural mixing the piano, which has always been a prominent voice in my music, within a melodic, deep house production.
6. Follow Your Heart
It’s true, when we follow our heart, we are experiencing the present moment to its fullest. Such was the case with this song for me. I was listening to the music that was happening in the moment, and enjoying the process with literally no thought to anything other than the inspired moment that I had enormous gratitude to enjoy.
7. Paradise
I named this song “Paradise”, because there’s a certain perpetual energy to it, that even when I listen back now gives me a sense of motivation. Often for me, some of the happiest moments for me are when I’m in the moment, creating and recording. My studio feels like paradise to me… When the music is flowing of course.
8. Dusk Till Dawn
There’s a park which is a short walk from our home and studio in VA, and we love picnic lunches there. There’s a sign that Says open “Dusk Till Dawn”. On many days during the making of this album, myself and part of my team from our label would carry our lunches there to just be outdoors, and enjoy the weather for a moment. It’s a really peaceful place, I wish we had discovered it sooner!
9. Wild Horses
There’s a natural rhythm to everything, and this particular track was exciting to me for many reasons. While creating it, I found myself feeling more connected to nature, and the rhythms of nature. I kept imagining the freedom, and imagery of wild horses, and animals in nature… And the track continued to feel more tribal. The drums and percussion turned out particularly pleasing to me, and of course the vivid imagery of the wild horses was so present that the image and idea of this became a strong part of the theme to the cover art concept, which I worked on together with my long time graphic design artist, Igor Shalin aka Solarsol.
10. Golden Hour
Again, mentioning the picnic lunches, oftentimes lunch for us is in the late afternoon, right before and during the golden hour of the day. It’s a special time of the day when the colors, especially the fall colors really pop out. It’s nature’s last glimpse of the light in each day, and it always feels like a moment to treasure and breathe in.
11. Drifting
This track was about the 3rd song created during the season of making this album. I was enjoying the deviation to a degree of the music, and usually early on in the album process some of the music drifts away from the first themes presented. I love taking creative liberty to explore all of the depths of my inspiration and creative moments, and so I decided to name this song “Drifting” as it most authentically identified what this song felt to me, specifically in the time frame of the album process in which it was completed.
About Ryan Farish:
Certain paradigms in the world of electronic music cannot be entirely replicated, and the body of work by Ryan Farish deserves such an accolade. The decorated DJ, producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist has touched innumerable hearts over the course of his career. Although best described as downtempo or chillout, Farish’s music exists in a category all its own. By pairing rich instrumentals with elements of ambient and uplifting trance, he’s yielded a polished and unmistakable sound that resonates with a wide international audience. He’s garnered over 330 million streams across the major digital platforms. As electronic music’s youngest generation of enthusiasts continues to discover the music of Ryan Farish, his catalog of music will continue to expand. For Farish, the artistic journey continues to be embarked upon with new avenues constantly being explored – with Rhythm of the Seasons and forthcoming bodies of work still to be revealed being of no exception.
Connect with Ryan Farish:
Website: http://www.ryanfarish.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ryanfarish
Instagram: http://instagram.com/ryanfarish
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ryanfarish
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/ryanfarish
Newsletter: http://www.ryanfarish.com/newsletter
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ryan-farish
