Photo: Press

Derry-born electronoica wizard Ryan Vail is releasing his new single, ‘Shadows’, on September 29 – and you can listen to it here first.

Regular readers of Gigwise will already be aware of Ryan Vail. We got justifiably excited by his hypnotic blend of electronica, techno and classical music sweeps when we caught his set at Belfast’s Output festival back in February. Little wonder we described him as “a sublime talent”.

And it’s great to see that Ryan Vail is delivering on the promise we saw him make earlier this year. The build-up is wonderfully slow and seductive, and once Ryan’s breathy vocals blend in with those initial pulses to give way to delicate yet measured beats, then you know you’ve got something special on your hands. See for yourself and get ready to be seduced.

Speaking of the track, Ryan says: “The song deals with my initial personal struggle to become a full-time artist. While I was before in a job that was comfortable, music haunted me at every turn. I’d kept my passion subdued as I was led to believe that its currently impossible to survive as a full-time musician nowadays.

“The lyrics refer to music as a person. ‘My love cuts like a knife’ refers to the fact that it hurt not to be able to follow my love for music. ‘Your heart, it holds my life’ is the job I couldn’t escape from. As the track progresses I talk of things like ‘All my life I’ve weighed lies’, the doubts that I had about becoming a full- time musician and surviving. The track ends with me accepting I need to change my life as my ‘heart don’t feel so good’“

Based on this track, we’re happy that Ryan’s followed his dreams and can’t wait to hear what he comes up with next.