Album Review: Sam Ryder – Heartland
2 min read
England’s newest national treasure Sam Ryder has had a very unique, yet very modern rise to stardom. Blowing up at an astronomical rate on TikTok, before working his way through to second place at the Eurovision Song Contest with forever immortalised single SPACE MAN, Sam has done well to keep on track creatively. His debut in 2022 was inevitable, but album two, Heartland, was anything but. That being said, does it live up to expectations?
Olympic ‘89 kicks the album off with a peppy shuffle, a low-key vocal delivery from Sam but fitting for the sound of the song. The Feeling Never Went Away starts similarly but has a more pronounced chorus and a hint at Sam’s vocal prowess. There are hints of Hozier on OH OK, while the title track eases in with ambient synth layer and an ominous vocal backing that leads to the gospel-esc chorus. The drum machine intro of White Lies is almost jarring, but it adds a new dimension to the album’s congregational rock and pop instrumentation.
Sam lets the grit in his voice shine through on Suffer In Silence, while Armour shows itself as the first fully acoustic ballad, relying almost entirely on guitar, piano, and Sam’s voice. Burn It Down takes a similar approach but with piano. It’s a definite highlight on the album, not only showing a different side to Sam’s performance, but also giving the album a much needing slice of brevity. Much of the rest of the record is sun-tinged, soulful rock, apart from Electric Marine Blue and closer Eyes On You. The former is led into by the wonderfully orchestrated Come and go like asteroids do before diving into a groovy, gritty riff, while the latter is a breezy mid-tempo Take That-esc tune.
As sophomore releases go, this is as safe as they get. Not to disregard the excellent songwriting and strong performances throughout, but Heartland is an album made to not challenge his audience too much. It certainly feels less gimmicky than his debut, and serves up some entertaining soft rock and a few gorgeous ballads. It’s a solid step in Sam’s growing discography.
Writer and Musician, Ryan Bulbeck has been published with a number of online publications, and has worked with a myriad of great artists, both as a performer, and as a producer. His most recent band The 295 are still active, playing shows around the UK.
