New CD out now!
A Ghost In Our Air
1. Down Hill Path
2. Anyone Can Dream
3. Marcella's Flowers
CD includes new tracks recorded with Kate Findlay on cello and Duncan Meadows on piano
SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS IF YOU'D LIKE A FREE COPY!
Ryan O’Neill is an emerging new name on the Manchester music scene. With his contradictory “electronic acoustic†sound and distinctive, powerful voice, he entices an expanding fan base to every live performance.
His unique and original style combines an acoustic guitar with electronic effects and samplers. The finished product makes for a fascinating live experience as Ryan’s techniques produce a sound equivalent to that of a full band, from scratch in front of his audience. Live overdubs and harmonising with his own vocals create an astonishingly beautiful sound, and with cello, piano, percussion, laptops and various other gadgets occasionally thrown in, full songs sound impossibly fuller.
Although Ryan's still working on this Solo Project, his main focus at the moment is on writing new material and recording with his band 'Vaya' to prepare for their tour in 2008. www.myspace.com/vayapageReviews:
In these heady days of post-art-rock-math-disco you’re probably not alone in thinking that singer/songwriters are a bit of a dying breed. As an initial reaction to this demo, it would be easy to just pigeonhole Ryan O’Neill as one of these coffee table plodders. However, his intricate songwriting skills, like McRae, Rice, and Buckley, lift him above the hordes. The demo is just him and an acoustic guitar, sometimes (as on standout track ‘Moment of Collapse’) building to a fervent culmination through the use of a loop station. ‘Marcella’s Flowers’, in contrast is more introverted, the melancholic tone and simple guitar beautifully complimenting the desperation of the story it tells. A cellist and percussionist have recently been added to the live act and, having recently seen him perform with these new additions, I think it will only be a matter of time before even the coffee table brigade are adding Ryan O’Neill’s debut album to their baskets in Tesco.
Mike Reynolds - Sandman Magzine
From time to time, when something baffles me, my respect for the musician in question is multiplied tenfold. I can safely say that Ryan O'Neill had pixie magic working for him last night. To begin with, I thought he'd lost his plectrum in his guitar, as he was beating seven shades out of the thing, but a minimal amount of knob-twiddling later and the sound of him banging on the back of his guitar forms the rhythm for his first tune. As if by magic!!!
A couple of songs in, and Ryan is joined onstage by cellist Kate and suddenly what were lovely songs sung by a really very clear and strong voice, became much more than that. We hadn't realised it at the time, but we had only heard half of what Ryan O'Neill's songs could be, and now our aural cataracts had been removed. Having Kate's cello added to the mix, I was immediately reminded of Damian Rice. While Ryan's voice is much more forceful than his, the partnership of guitar and strings carries the vocal right to the middle of your chest, thankfully without coming over all George Martin. Like the piano part in Johnny Cash's version of 'Hurt', the strings are just an essential element to these songs, and it's a relationship that I hope to see in action again.
-ListenToManchester
Ryan O'Neill is a one-man-and-his-tape-looper acoustic singer-guitarist, but without the sometimes unnecessary complexity that can make the likes of Denis Jones - remarkable as he is - something of a listener's challenge at times. O'Neill keeps it simple. Backed up by the haunting cello of Kate Findlay his songs are gorgeously fragile, crisp pieces of gentle technological folk melodically closer to Four Tet and the quieter end of the post-rock fraternity than the belt-it-out troubadour brigade.
-Cath Aubergine
The last time i saw Ryan O'Neill play was at The Met in Bury not far short of a year ago. He was accompanied onstage by a cellist and came across like a quietly confident Damien Rice-esque type of acoustic singer-songwriter. I thought from that then that i would have some idea of what type of act i was about to see. i was wrong! With enough flashing LEDs in front of him to rival blackpool illuminations, he delivered one of the most innovative performances any unsigned act is likely to produce. There were several guitar parts drifting in and out of one another, percussion parts looped on the body of the guitar, atmospheric samples and some incredibly catchy lyrics. In between the wall of sounds he was creating before us though, we were able to appreciate the other side of Ryan's sound, that of his voice. With a range that most soul singers would kill for, he makes sure we realise that he's not just about clever technology. theyre just a bonus. Heartbreaking songs with groundbreaking techniques. Amazing Stuff! 5/5
-Robert Shaw - Graffiti Magazine
