Vincent Ryder - no way too quiet

It has been two years since Danish prodigy Vincent Ryder broke the conformity of contemporary Scandinavian music with his debut album ‘The End of the World on TV‘. With a surprisingly refreshing mix of Bowie, Prince, and early Tom Verlaine he almost immediately caught the attention of influential figures in the music business and for a time tweaked the regional discourse in popular culture.

Artfully appealing as a modern day Jeff Buckley, and presenting deep, dark, and incredibly intellectual lyrics from a somewhat dystopian world of tomorrow, Ryder counters the immense number of glossy solo artists, painting more happy illusions of life in the 2020’s.

The result has so far left everyone in his audible vicinity gawping. Some of us still are.

No disrespect intended towards the many wonderful pop artists of today. We sure need their musical sunshine too.

Just to say; Ryder is more… and far more interesting.

Brace yourself for the apocalypse (part two)

Now the 21-year-old shooting star is once again ready to steal the minds, souls, and hearts of innocent bystanders. With an impressive 14-track second part to his announced Doomsday Trilogy he takes an even deeper dive into the freezing dark post-apocalyptic ocean of nuclear debris, the Baby Boomers and Gen X’s have left behind.

However, he does so while holding a metaphorical torch of Socratic lyrics and some truly aspiring compositions full of story and adventure. Ryder is the park ranger, leading us towards hope, love, and light amid the chaos of an imploding planet. And for that at least I am eternally grateful.

Let me repeat – This guy is only 21!

Where the 2023 debut was the pre-apocalyptic last breath, this 58-minute tour de force called ‘Way Too Quiet‘ serves to show us the full apocalypse unfolding. It is full of both brooding desperation and loud bravado searching for an escape. But as the album unfolds, you discover; “it is not at all the end!“

Though, wandering in doomsday darkness, Ryder mysteriously seems to know the way to the other side, and with a grain of optimistic stamina, he guides us along.

Don’t stay behind – join the adventure

The album opener ‘Generation Lost Love‘ sets the tone perfectly for what is to come. Grinding and relentlessly Ryder and his house band The Awesome Soundkings create the necessary sustained pressure for the listener to realize the full scale of the challenges lying ahead.

This is no ordinary trip.

The seriousness of it all blooms in full in the rather sinister and grungy ‘Children in the Woods‘. The monotone organ sets an almost funeral-like upper tone, while distorted guitars and psychedelic synth accompany the beating galley drums. You can almost hear the clanking shackles around your ankles when they’ve caught you.

The track features Danish legend, Steen Jørgensen, front man of ‘Sort Sol‘ (Let your fingers do the walking). He backs Ryder perfectly with his glorious, dark, and ominous vocal. He reappears later in ‘The River‘, where he plays the part as the suicidal devil inside your mind, telling you to just end this hopeless misery altogether – “I think you should jump in the river”.

Dark? Oh yes… But so incredibly elegant.

The radioactive panic escape climaxes in the highly nightmarish ‘Into The Wastelands‘. The slow trip-hoppish pace accords masterly with the listeners already panic-stricken pulse, and with the siren-like synths you get an expression usually applied to Marilyn Mansion productions.

But then it shows – the brilliance of Vincent Ryder. While falling helplessly into the bottomless abyss, somebody grabs your hand. You are smoothly saved by a confident and calm young man, who pulls you back up with a comforting wry smile, defusing the splitting chaotic situation by simply saying; ‘Holy Shit!‘. We are not saved. But at least you are not alone anymore.

This tremendously elegant gliding transition is best experienced on vinyl – or live!

Towards the end the song spiral into a final insurmountable challenge of Pink Floydish proportions, making ‘Holy Shit‘ the most appropriate song title on the album. I can’t recall when a Danish artist wrote such an exhilarating finale to a song.

At dawn reconciliation begins with love

Despite the considerable darkness, ‘Way Too Quiet‘ is far from just a helpless stare into our inevitable doom. In fact, there are lots of comforting moments to be had too.

For instance, you should treat yourself with the melodic title track. Listen, and then tell me if you don’t sense the presence of both John Lennon and David Bowie in there? And please note the jazzy twist sculptured masterly by Ryder and keyboardist Johan Dalgaard towards the end.

Dalgaard, who resides in Paris, likely had a play in forming the heartbreaking Parisian ballad ‘Never Felt This Lonely‘ too. His touch to the harmonium allows for a homely feeling – even to people not living near the French Capitol. The song is obviously about feeling more lonely than lonely. However, it is also loaded with images of warm summer evenings in the 5th Arrondissement with its cafes full of Sorbonne students.

Another example of Ryder’s ability to create duality in his writing.

Equally catchy are the songs ‘Be‘ and ‘A Little Song About Darkness‘. The floating synth, the grand piano, and the clear and delicate vocal work in ‘Be‘, makes it one of the most beautiful songs Ryder has written so far.

Similarly, ‘A Little Song About Darkness‘ has seas of lit cell phones written all over it. In fact, both songs carry the potential of becoming perfect encores to a spellbinding evening with Vincent Ryder & The Awesome Soundkings.

Storytelling converts music into drama

To many music is seen as a sheer element of entertainment. But with Ryder you get more. Dive into the lyrics and discover the progressing story lines. Then listen to the album again, but this time around notice just how accurately and playfully all instruments support Ryder’s poetry; evolving, changing and driving the story along. That is what you get – a story that sticks with you.

This kind of storytelling in music is usually reserved for jazz lovers or in large classical works, and ironically it may end up costing this young artist some airtime with popular mainstream radio stations. Ryder hardly fits the predominant 3-minute continuity format and the predetermined flow of pop songs, written over identical playbook compositions, delivering the same predictable output.

Instead Ryder fans can enjoy an intimate hour alone by the turntable; or join friends at live venues to get the full Ryder experience.

And there is plenty of joy to be had. There is even room for some prankish playfulness.

This is perhaps most obvious in ‘I Play The Harmonica For You‘ – a Dylan-inspired repeater from Ryder’s debut album; only this time around the track’s surname has been altered from (Badly) to (Slightly Better).

You can’t but love this idealistic song to pieces; especially the intended miserable student recorders by the end of the song, hilariously saved by Ryder’s almost parenting harmonica. Dylan would be so proud if he heard this!

‘Way Too Quiet‘ easily earns a solid 5-of-6 Latebar clovers. However, I’ll grant the album the sixth clover for bravery and boldness.

I so wish more young artists would break free from the algorithmic format tyranny and conform business structures ruling popular music today. And I wish more labels would dare challenge the status quo and keep music an ever developing art form.

Art is, after all, breaking rules and challenge what is known already. And Vincent Ryder is right here; guiding the way. Bravo and thank you!

Vincent Ryder – ‘Way Too Quiet’ – Published: 4. April 2025 by Giant Birch Records.

About Vincent Ryder
Born 4 November 2003 in Copenhagen, Denmark, as the only child of parents Liza and Jesper Ryder. At a young age he began playing guitar with his dad, who incidentally mentioned his son to his guitar teacher, Danish music legend Aske Jacoby. The latter met with the younger Ryder, immediately seeing the potential in Ryder’s writing and encouraged by his obvious curiosity for learning more. Full of confidence Jacoby signed the 18-year-old prodigy and published the 2023-debut ‘The End of the World on TV’ on his label ‘Giant Birch Records’.

About The Awesome Soundkings
The Vincent Ryder backing outfit was created in 2022 by producer and guitarist Aske Jacoby. All members, hand-picked by Jacoby, are considered among the finest and most well-versed in Denmark. Apart from Jacoby (guitar, bass, percussion, recorder), members count: Felix Ewert (drums), and Johan Dalgaard (keys, piano, organ), with Christian Douglas (bass) joining at live gigs.
Frequent guests count: Kasper Langkjaer (drums), Morten Hellborn (drums), Johannes Wamberg (guitar), Vicky Singh (guitar) and Tilde Vinther (vocal).