Since his last proper solo release in 2018,
Ryley Walker has certainly maintained his sense of adventure, remaking a lost
Dave Matthews Band album, releasing his second instrumental collaboration with drummer
Charles Rumback, and getting deep into the weeds with Japanese psych combo
Kikagaku Moyo. At some point during this busy stretch, he also found time to compose and record some of his most intricate and satisfying solo material to date, released here as
Course in Fable,
Walker's fifth album. An artful nexus of impressionistic songwriting, prog-rock vision, and melodic nuance, these seven tracks shimmer and roil in hi-fi glory, thanks in part to the efforts of veteran producer/engineer
John McEntire (
Tortoise, the Sea and Cake). The pairing of these two Chicago eccentrics from different generations is an inspired one and makes a certain amount of sense at this point in
Walker's career. His emergence in 2014 as a much-heralded folk troubadour grew over subsequent years into a snaky path of idiosyncratic left turns, somehow leading back (albeit transformed) to the influence of his hometown. While
Walker now resides in New York and
McEntire in Portland, they meet (figuratively and sonically) in the middle with an impressive set that melds the former's inventive prog-pop with the latter's detailed hi-fi indie fusion, sounding like nothing from either coast.
Album opener "Striking Down Your Big Premiere" leans heavily into its progressive nature, shifting seamlessly between time signatures and conjoined micro-suites to create a surprisingly effective whole. The musical interplay between
Walker, guitarist
Bill McKay (another Chicagoan), bassist
Andrew Scott Young, and drummer
Ryan Jewell is simply electric, and his increasing confidence as an ace bandleader makes it all feel effortless. With opaque lyrics that suggest hidden meanings and a husky delivery recalling mid-'70s
John Martyn, he brings a casual elegance to what may be his most technically complex songs to date. And yet, for all of its tricky rhythmic shifts and dazzling guitar work,
Course in Fable is rife with appealing melodies and quirky, head-turning lyrics ("walk a victory lap around the whale shit tombs") lending the record its own air of distinction.
Walker may tip his hat to Chicago's experimental underground or prog behemoths like
Genesis, but with this release, he's very much his own man. ~ Timothy Monger