William Ryan Fritch

Revisionist

BY Scott A. GrayPublished Feb 10, 2015

9
Already adept at meticulously sculpting myriad manner of intensely evocative musical images within his own self-contained creative ecosystem, experimental composer William Ryan Fritch challenges his isolationist methodology by inviting collaboration on Revisionist. Vocal contributions from DM Stith and Esme Patterson enrich the proceedings with melodic immediacy seldom achieved by Fritch's own voice, which, despite being no less emotionally potent, is more often employed as a haunting texture vessel than as a focal point.
 
Fritch's latest for Lost Tribe Sound is the culmination of a period of immensely fertile creativity; 2014 saw the intuitive multi-instrumentalist expand and refine his instinct for descriptive cinematic arrangements over the course of more than 100 songs (now available as part of a ten-album collection, including this one). Tempered by passion and seasoned by that Herculean effort, Revisionist is the richly realized statement of an introspective thinker wielding the practical magic of an artist atomically bonded with his craft. And "craft" most certainly describes Fritch's approach to constructing music.
 
Born of a marriage of circumstance and intent — Fritch records in a converted barn primarily using instruments made of wood and wires — these songs have a hands-on earthiness ingrained in the fabric of their being. The fragile, beautiful chaos of vibrating strings and resonant wood forms a sort of ethereal sonic fascia connecting Fritch's melodious, poetic contemplations with existential concerns such as how humans selectively edit memories to shape their narrative presentation of self.
 
A rare feat of immersive, affecting and explorative sounds and concepts, Revisionist is a bold, pioneering effort to be cherished and championed.
(Lost Tribe Sound)

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