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Ryder The Eagle (Insta | Bandcamp | Spotify)

Ryder The Eagle has been navigating and exploring both the brightest and darkest sides of love for almost a decade, using music as a therapy, travels as a cure and live performances as a catharsis. His first E.P « The Ride Of love » (2017) was written in Paris and was an ode to his wife and the concept of true love. He later experienced the devastating power of deception and disillusion, moved to London and put out his second E.P « Free Porn » (2019). He eventually went through a divorce after his ten year relationship, moved to Mexico City and released his first album « Follymoon » (2022), a sonically lush and demented logbook in which every aspect of the romantic mourning process was addressed, from the depth of loneliness to the frantic (failed) attempts at loving again.

Ryder is a DIY artist all around, and the numerous music videos he self-directed (and self-funded), the endless solo tours and the production of his records soon endangered the frenchie’s financial ability to sustain his art; the price he’d then have to pay for independence was a prolonged stay in Fayetteville, Arkansas where he worked as a builder, an arborist and a bouncer and started facetiming every night with a (ironically enough) french artist who’d soon inspire various love songs of his, but more on this later.

After releasing his first album, the thirty three year old divorcé took his heart-broken mariachi character on the road and played over a hundred shows in less than six months, dragging his cabaret-like karaoke all over Mexico, the USA, Canada and Europe. After clandestinely busking on the streets of Austin, Texas in 2020 while on a cross-country American Greyhound epic, he was finally invited to play at SXSW 2022 as an official artist. He supported Adam Green on many US and Europe tours, opened for Franz Ferdinand throughout Europe and headlined sold out shows in Paris.

Ryder then fled to Greece where he recorded his second album « Megachurch » (2023), a melancholic and solemn auto-sermon in which he comes to terms with his past and stares at his future, deconstructing his old faith in love while drawing the outline of a new one. He then was invited on tour by Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500), Cut Worms, Jonathan Bree and Oracle Sisters spending the whole year of 2023 driving through the US and Europe and performing his tales of romantic redemption in the clothes of his new chimerical persona, halfway between a victorian vampire and a neurotic priest.

After this long tour, the now enamoured 34 year old balladeer drove his Volvo wagon to Portugal’s deep south, setting his 4 track cassette recorder and synths in an old decaying house by the Guadiana River. For the first time, Ryder put the focus on his inner self and insecurities, making
« Autotango » his most personal and intimate work to date. Addressing themes like depression (The Fireman Is Blue), identity issues (Two birds) or unhappiness addiction (The Rain In my Heart), each time putting it in perspective with the outside world through the prism of love (Purple Dress), the french cowboy dares to look in the mirror when blaming past heartbreakers didn’t seem to make sense anymore. The introspective nine songs were written and recorded in two months, the analog tape format forcing Ryder to commit fully at every step of the process, leaving no space for perfectionism, most of the vocal tracks being recorded in one take. After laying all the songs down, Ryder wrote string arrangements and asked american violinist Jesse Kotansky (who also played with Adam Green) to record the string parts in his studio in New York City. This process of layering lo-fi synthy soundscapes and orchestral violins is what makes this album psychotic and special, creating a kind of broken melancholy and solemness that reminds us of artists like Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave or Scott walker, with the wit and instantaneity of a modern art-folk storyteller. His girlfriend, the french photographer and painter Eloïse Labarbe-Lafon, set up her dark room in a fishing barn behind the house to photograph, process and hand paint the artwork of « Autotango », matching the album’s organic feel. The record was mixed in L.A by Noah Georgeson (The Strokes, Devendra Banhart, Adam Green, Rodrigo Amarante, Little Joy) and mastered in Ottawa by Philip Shaw Bova (Angel Olsen, Father John Misty, The National, Andy Shauf). It will be released on April 26th and Ryder will be then embarking on his first headline tour through Mexico, Europe, Uk and North America for the rest of the year.

Mary Esther Carter (Insta | Website | Spotify)

Mary Esther Carter sings from her guts. Tuning into a raw and deeply soulful place, her sound transports you to a familiar yet uncharted territory. Inspired by artists like Mahalia Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, Cat Power, and Tom Waits, her 2019 debut EP entitled “Doula”, blends elements of Folk, Blues, and Trip Hop with a flare for the experimental. She recently followed up Doula with her debut album entitled “Dust” on October 16th 2023. Her hypnotic and visceral live performances have captivated audiences across the country. She is passionate about conjuring her authentic voice and helping others do the same through the healing potential of vocalization, movement, and improvisation.