Bill Ryder-Jones - Yawn

Though Bill Ryder-Jones initially made his name with idiosyncratic Scouse weirdos The Coral, since the start of his solo career the singer has largely trodden a far more restrained, introverted path. However, across his last two LPs – 2013’s ‘A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart’ and critically-acclaimed 2015 follow up ‘West Kirby County Primary’ - there’s always been moments of directness and light to punctuate the shadows.

On ‘Yawn’, these are absent. Instead, its 10 tracks all sprawl along at a similar down-tempo pace, Bill’s fragile whisper of a croon only adding to the aura of lethargic night times spent alone. Individually the likes of ‘Time Will Be The Only Saviour’, with its creeping strings and weighty sorrow, or the Rizzo-quoting ‘There Are Worse Things I Could Do’, are tender, sad things, but as a whole piece, ‘Yawn’ can wind up a claustrophobic listen.