This article was originally published on February 4, 2015 and updated on January 15, 2018
Everybody got some favourite albums. Music that accompanied yourself through difficult times, records that acted like a friend when there was real one around. Whether it was the sound around the times of your first kiss or the starting point of your own attempts to take a deeper look into new musical territories. We all have this record somewhere in our hearts and private collections. In this category NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION lets the artist’s do the writing as they share their personal stories and feelings on their most loved record with us.
On today’s episode, Ry Cuming – widely known under his moniker Ry X – opens up about the endlessly inspiring beauty of the late great JEFF BUCKLEY’s only full-length ‘Grace’. Read on to find out about how much this album resonates within Cuming up to this day and which other artists he thinks might be taken into consideration. And if YOU consider to see the crafted songwriter live in concert: He’s about to embark on a special tour which sees him teaming up with symphonic orchestras in various cities to perform his haunting songs live in a completely new setting. Find the dates on the bottom of this article.
Jeff Buckley – ‘Grace’ (1994)
Do you remember the time when you bought that record?
It wasn’t easy to get records when I was a kid. It wasn’t so long ago, but still, internet was just kicking into gear. CDs cost a lot and I had to travel an hour at least in any direction to get to a place that had a range of records/CDs to look through. Then you might have to order it, and after you paid off your bill over weeks of contribution, you found it in your hands. Then a long car ride home to the nearest cd player.
Was there a special trigger that initially made you buy the album?
I remember the first time I heard it. I was salted from the sea. Tucked in to the national park in Australia where I grew up next to the ocean. A cluster of houses surrounded by wild sea and land. A friends house, the record on. Jeff Buckley. Grace. His voice made sense to me. I had to know as much as I could about him in that moment.
Please explain in a few words why it is so special for you?
It was intuitive, I just felt like I had known the voice and the album my 16 years before first hearing it. It got in there, past a lot of everything else. Jeff Buckley and grunge were the two things that made me feel things in that way at the time.
What’s your favourite song on the album and why?
It’s a record, front to back, of beautiful songs and a real journey. I guess Lover, You Should Have Come Over always had my heart though’. Somewhere close to the words She’s a tear that hangs inside my soul forever. that was probably what got me.
Why should one listen to that record today? Anything about the album that speaks to the people today as well?
It’s timeless. Deeply emotional, raw, powerful and true. Not many records hold all of that and continue to hold it over time.
Any other work by the artist you can recommend? Or any other album you’d like to give some credit right here?
He only really put that record out but there’s also some beautiful tracks of other releases: Everybody Here Wants You, Forget Her. And other records? I have heart pulls that call in many directions. Some music that many might not chase up, that are beautiful to hear and hold in the body: HARIPRASAD CHAURASIA – Any Of His Ragas (beautiful indian ragas), YOSHI WADA – Earth Horn with Electronic Drone, NILS FRAHM – Says, Fever Ray, all of Björk‘s wonderful work, some african jazz, f.e. FELA KUTI, some original old dub – KING TUPPY perhaps, good grunge and shoegaze, COCTEAU TWINS, early Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies and of course to round it out some good German deep house and more. Try David August – Epikur EP, Burial/Four Tet – Nova. That should give anyone a run around my heart and blood musically!