Usually demo sets have a distinct low fidelity quality to them, but Ryli’s set of demos doesn’t suffer from this, and the average listener might not even think it was produced at the artist’s home. The Demo is a collection of fun, not-quite ambient rock songs which come in both lyrical and instrumental varieties. Even after a number of full-set listens, I find myself wanting to just chill out to the music rather than tell you what I think about it.
Vocals flow effortlessly around the rhythm, as if they were willed into your mind. The guitar’s fuzzy distortion on “Wrap The Stars” and “Take Two” doesn’t call attention to itself, but greatly helps the songs. A variety of instruments and tones are used throughout this set of songs, and none of them sound like they were thrown in to add diversity; every tone just works well for every song.
Although the set could be considered shoegaze or maybe even dream pop, some songs dabble into other genres, like the vaguely country “To Begin“, which adds an acoustic touch to the established sound, or the soft alternative rock songs “Take Two” and “Winter“.
There are only two songs that didn’t work as well in the set for me, but they are only in the context of this being an album, not just a collection of songs. “Winter” and “Attack“, although fun songs, don’t seem to fit in with the rest of the set. Part of it may be the lack of lyrics (though this wouldn’t automatically cause songs to not fit in the set), but they both get much heavier as they progress. They start off familiar, but progress into something that would make them more like bonus track material.
Although I imagine the potential audience for this set has some limitations, it’s definitely an artist and collection of songs you’ll want to hear. You’ll probably be surprised with both the music quality and the fact that no one has signed her yet.
You can download this set for free at Ryli’s web site.
