Ryley Walker: Golden Sings That Have Been Sung review – patchily brilliant psychedelic Americana

Ryley Walker’s third album opens with one of the best songs of the year. The Halfwit in Me manages to be urgent and mellow simultaneously, repeatedly peaking in an ecstatic acoustic guitar hook that sounds both completely fresh and as if it has been around for ever. It sets the bar high for the rest of the album, which never manages to reach that level of invention, instead turning back – as on this album’s predecessor, Primrose Green – to mood, conveyed by psych-folk guitar, jazzy drums and subdued bass. None of it bad, just a disappointment after that phenomenal opening. When the music gets a bit samey, Walker pulls out a gently startling lyric to grab your attention back – “Naked ladies in the sunlight, they adore me,” he offers on Sullen Mind. He needs an editor, though: eight minutes of Age Old Tale? Why, you spoil us: the first two minutes are redundant. Three stars seems harsh, but there’s greatness in Walker, if he can blow away the dust.