Returning from a surprise two-year absence from the music scene, Tucson-based duo Ryanhood released its new album “Start Somewhere” on Nov. 2.
The band published a heartfelt letter to fans in October to explain its sabbatical, detailing the story of the duo’s upward slope to fame and the downward spiral that followed. Between debt and unsuccessful label deals, the two band members, Ryan Green and Cameron Hood, were faced with repeated trials and little triumph, driving them into a languid state of depression.
Thankfully, the group’s light did not burn out completely. “We learned that we are artists who make art, singers who sing,” the band said in the letter. “We are only fully alive when we are writing and singing and creating.” The two men picked each other up and began making new music, recognizing the many people who had been supporting them through their darkest times.
“Start Somewhere,” like the duo’s journey itself, addresses issues of disappointment and failure, but it also highlights the band’s success.
Where “Summer Rain” soothes with a ballad that likens a summer storm to the struggles the band has faced, “The Moon” offers a sing-songy melody that revives the positivity of Ryanhood’s albums from the early 2000s.
Despite serious and dark themes, the whole album has an upbeat, cheery sound. “Sickbed Symphony” tells the story of a dying man offering advice, which seems to be the words the band itself needed to hear to come out of its darkest days. “Every broken arm and broken heart and promise/ Is a movement in a symphony/ And you can choose to hear the beauty or the blues/ It’s up to you,” the man tells listeners.
The final song on the album, “Start Somewhere,” is a perfect ending to the band’s creative masterpiece. The verses address different moments of the members’ lives, beginning with their graduation and continuing to their touring together, while the chorus optimistically declares, “If anybody told you/ What you gotta go through/ You have to start somewhere.” This song precisely embodies the notion that Ryanhood is trying to get across to listeners — to push on after failure and to pursue your dreams relentlessly.
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