Ryan Dugré is a multi-instrumentalist from New York City who has recorded and toured with acts such as Joan As Police Woman, Rubblebucket, Landlady and Eleanor Friedberger. In addition, he also has a burgeoning solo career, with 2016 seeing the release of his debut album, Gardens, on Brooklyn-based label Very Special Recordings. This spring, a follow-up record will be released via Birdwatcher Records.
The Humors was recorded with Sam Griffin Owens (Sam Evian) at Figure 8, and represents far more than a solo endeavour. Ian Mclellan Davis (string arrangements), Elise Frawley (viola), Alexandra Jones (cello) and Rachel Ruggles (violin) all lend their talents, and there are guest appearance across the album from Ian Chang (Son Lux), Jeremy Gustin (Star Rover, Jesse Harris), and Eric Lane (Joan As Police Woman, Cautious Clay). The result is a rich yet minimal bed of instrumentation that never quite shows its hand, every element introduced with control and precision alongside Ryan Dugré’s intricate fingerpicked guitar—maintaining an intangible sense of ambiguity that suggests there is something at work behind or beyond what can be heard.
After first single ‘Bali’ premiered on Atwood Magazine, a song they described as “at once majestically grandiose and intimately small,” we’re thrilled to be able to share the second. ‘Tonight’ takes the prior description and applies it to Sibylle Baier’s song of the same name, the lonely simplicity of the original’s vocals rendered in guitar lines and negative space. Again, and like in Baier’s version, the track is haunted by the notion there are things moving below the surface, the superficial stillness masking an interior churn. But what lies beneath remains cryptic no matter how many times you replay the song, an answer seen only in glimpses and shadows.
The Humors is out on the 8th March via Birdwatcher and you can pre-order it now.
Photo and album art by Annette Wong