Dear Friends,
I am writing this letter while on a train from Lake Como, Italy, heading to Zürich, Switzerland, for the next stop on my tour and I’m finding it hard to focus because the views are so beautiful! Wow.
Today, I have the privilege of telling you that my new Atlas: III song is out now! Plus, my Saturn music video is celebrating its tenth anniversary and my song Parables is featured in the film The Symphony of Dance!
New Atlas Song: Source
Source, the 16th song in my 25-song Atlas: III project, is now available everywhere you enjoy music!
I had so much fun writing this one, and its sibling song, Echo (which releases next month). Both Source and Echo are meant to be listened to as loud as you’re comfortable. Crank it! Think of Source as shouting into a canyon, and Echo as the response. (Which is also why I’ve hidden the lyrics for Echo within Source - see the lyrics in bold below.)
Source is an examination of caution. I wrote it thinking about cause and effect - how my ever-present anxiety feels like a fixation on cause and effect, constantly running the math and the what-ifs on every scenario of my life. It’s exhausting and very limiting. Even though I know that, it’s very hard to stop. That’s what I wrote about in this song.
Liner Notes
I had the privilege of bringing this song to life with the help of the following wonderful people:
Strings: Sharon Gerber & Anya-Katarina Gerber
Mixing: John Goodmanson
Mastering: Greg Obis
Artwork: Elicia Edijanto
Source Lyrics:
shhhh...
quiet down- an avalanche is waiting for just one more sound.
life is loud- look at all we’ve gotten away with up ’til now
and i really don’t want to find out where the line is.
stuck looking over my shoulder,
another domino tipping over-
maybe we should wait for the morning light
before we let our voices carry,
and ignore how much gets buried,
can we take a step back for a minute,
one foot in the pool before we dive in?
i’m getting lost in metaphor-
can’t see the forest for the trees anymore-
everything echoes and i’m trying to find the source.
what becomes of a world unwritten,
when our joy and pain is hidden?
wait, are we asking the same question?
what leaves a mark in the dark-
i realize i’m being too careful-
there’s solid ground here in the middle.
and like the tide sways under the thumb of the moon
i feel like we play our part too-
i’m getting lost in metaphor again,
let’s turn the volume up before our song ends-
everything echoes, it’s just a matter of when.
every living thing gets better,
by ricocheting off each other.
as our voices change the landscape
may we never forget what’s at stake.
if we lose our way as the day ends,
with sunlight, we get to start again.
everything echoes, it’s just a matter of when.
(everything echoes)
Saturn Music Video - 10 Year Anniversary
On June 28th, the official music video for my song Saturn will celebrate its tenth birthday! It was beautifully crafted by my friends, Tom Shea (Director) and Michael Means (Director of Photography)! I can’t believe it’s been ten years already, but more than that, I can’t believe that more than 112 million people have been kind enough to watch it on YouTube!! (😱)
This video came about after I saw a “Vine” (9 second video) that Tom Shea had made of reverse sparks and I was transfixed! I reached out and asked if he’d be interested in making a music video for me. He said yes and went out filming with the help of his friend Michael Means. When they sent over the first cut, I was floored. I am so grateful that they created such stunning visuals for this song. A forever-thank you to Tom and Michael for their incredible work. And thank YOU so much for watching and sharing this video and song over the last ten years! It means the world to me.
If you didn’t already know, Tom Shea and Michael Means ALSO made gorgeous music videos for my songs You Are Enough and Touch!
Thank you for reading! I can’t believe that only three more tour dates remain on my Europe tour, which has been one of the most wonderful adventures of my life! Perhaps I’ll see you in Edinburgh or Dublin. In any case, I look forward to writing to you again soon. Xoxo
Huge love, Ryan
P.S. Here’s a list of things I love right now:
Tiramisu (Always a fan, but in Italy-oh my goodness it is amazing)
Watching MCU with my daughters (They wanted to start from the beginning and we’re having so much fun Marvel-ing together)
Zelda (Pretty pumped about this Zelda: Ocarina of Time news)
Bastl Kalimba (Bought this thing SO fast. Can’t wait to get it)
Upcoming Shows:
June 17 – Edinburgh, Scotland - Sold Out
June 18 – Edinburgh, Scotland - Sold Out
June 20 – Dublin, Ireland - Sold Out