Menu
· Killian Welsch
This is the kind of record you stumble into rather than seek out. New Threats From the Soul does not announce itself loudly. It sits down next to you, starts talking, and slowly reveals how much it has been paying attention. Ryan Davis writes songs like observations scribbled in the margins of life, sharp, funny, wounded, and impossibly human.
There is humor here, but it cuts deep. There is sadness, but it never asks for pity.
New Threats From the Soul moves loosely through folk, country, and ramshackle rock, but genre never feels like the point. The arrangements are lived in. Guitars wander, keys drift, and the rhythm section plays with patience rather than urgency. Songs stretch when they need to. Others end abruptly, as if the thought simply ran out.
The Roadhouse Band bring a casual looseness that makes the album feel like a late night session that accidentally got recorded. Nothing is overly polished. The sequencing feels conversational, almost episodic, each track adding another angle to the same restless mind.
Rather than chasing momentum, the album trusts mood. It rewards listeners willing to sit still.
Ryan Davis delivers lines with a half spoken, half sung cadence that feels deceptively relaxed. His voice carries humor and exhaustion at the same time. He sounds like someone who has seen enough to stop pretending but still cares enough to keep writing.
The Roadhouse Band understand restraint. They never crowd the songs. Instead, they give Davis room to let his words land. When the band swells, it feels earned. When it pulls back, the silence speaks just as loudly.
This is not performative vulnerability. It is lived experience, delivered plainly.
Lyrics hit hardest when played straight through, without distraction.
The looser tracks feel especially rich on vinyl, where small imperfections become texture.
Side changes feel like chapters, giving the album space to breathe.
Best enjoyed at night, volume up, lights low.
A simple vinyl pressing suits this record. Nothing glossy. Nothing flashy. Let the songs do the talking.
New Threats From the Soul is not an easy record, but it is a rewarding one. It asks for patience and gives insight in return. Ryan Davis writes with wit, vulnerability, and a refusal to clean things up for comfort.
This album feels less like entertainment and more like companionship.
Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band occupy a rare space. They are writing songs that feel timeless without trying to sound old, personal without becoming insular. New Threats From the Soul positions Davis as one of the most quietly compelling songwriters working right now.
This is the kind of record that grows in reputation rather than explodes. Years from now, people will still be discovering it and wondering how they missed it the first time.
Best Spins: New Threats From the Soul, The Simple Joy, Mutilation Fails
For Fans Of: Bill Callahan, Silver Jews, MJ Lenderman, Lambchop
If You’re Into This, Try:
Purple Mountains by Purple Mountains
Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle by Bill Callahan
Boat Songs by MJ Lenderman
American Water by Silver Jews
Is a Woman by Lambchop