{"id":73760,"date":"2018-12-07T13:00:40","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=73760"},"modified":"2023-02-24T14:52:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T14:52:50","slug":"review-william-ryan-key-virtue-ep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-william-ryan-key-virtue-ep\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: William Ryan Key &#8211; Virtue EP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-73761 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/wrc-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"320\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/wrc-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/wrc-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/wrc-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/wrc-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/wrc.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/>It&#8217;s been over a year since Yellowcard played their\u00a0final show, but frontman <strong>William Ryan Key<\/strong> has been keeping himself busy with DIY stripped back solo EP releases. Six months following the release of his debut <em>&#8216;Thirteen&#8217;, &#8216;Virtue&#8217;<\/em> further delves away from Key&#8217;s prolific pop-punk musings, and steers further towards melancholic\u00a0indie rock.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the squeaky-clean production that was present on Yellowcard releases is still evident with\u00a0<em>&#8216;Virtue&#8217;,<\/em> which can be a slight distraction from the immersive textures present here. Whether influences from current popular indie artists were intentional in creating these songs, <strong>Key<\/strong> has certainly crafted his own take on the genre.<\/p>\n<p>Opener &#8216;<em>The Same Destination&#8217;<\/em>\u00a0 takes cues from Julien Baker with its rich, uplifting instrumentation, whilst <em>&#8216;The Bowery&#8217;<\/em> sounds very Sufjan Stevens-esque, due to the warming vocal harmonies and dynamic guitar plucking.\u00a0The storytelling aspect of these songs is endearing, even if the subject matter at times is clich\u00e9. This is especially apparent when <strong>Key<\/strong> recalls nostalgic memories of New York.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"William Ryan Key - The Bowery\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MNeNrsygxSc?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The title track is a far more brash and anthemic endeavour, with <strong>Key<\/strong> detailing how it feels to recover after a painful breakup; &#8220;<em>Still not out of the cold but I pretend, that all of this had a warm and graceful end&#8221;<\/em>\u00a0are particularly hard-hitting\u00a0lines,\u00a0 as the heavy-handed\u00a0snare fills and noisy riffs intensify the song&#8217;s emotional finale.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a shame that despite <em>&#8216;Virtue&#8217;<\/em> further showcasing a more reserved and vulnerable side of <strong>Key<\/strong>&#8216;s songwriting, the robotic vocals on <em>&#8216;No More, No Less&#8217;<\/em> take a bit of getting used to, and perhaps were not the best production choice to use.<\/p>\n<p>Despite this, it&#8217;s clear that <strong>Key<\/strong> is keen to experiment with his emotional sound, with an outlet that isn&#8217;t overshadowed by Yellowcard&#8217;s legacy.<em>\u00a0&#8216;Virtue&#8217;<\/em> is yet another soulful release that isn&#8217;t ashamed to wear a number of memorable influences on its sleeve.<\/p>\n<p>3.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;Virtue\u2019\u00a0<\/em>EP by <strong>William\u00a0Ryan Key<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>is out now on <strong>The Lone Tree Recordings.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>William\u00a0Ryan Key<\/strong> links:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.williamryankey.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/williamryankey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/williamryankey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/williamryankey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Ashwin Bhandari (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/giveupox17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@GIVEUPOX17<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;Virtue\u2019\u00a0sees William Ryan Key steers further towards melancholic\u00a0indie rock, showcasing a reserved and vulnerable side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":73787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2269],"tags":[16338,16308,2409],"class_list":["post-73760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ep-review","tag-virtue-ep","tag-william-ryan-key","tag-yellowcard"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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