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Tyler Ramsey
A Long Dream about Swimming Across the Sea
(Music Allies/Echo
Mountain)
First Appeared in The Music Box, January 2008, Volume 15, #1
Written by John Metzger
Wed January 9, 2008, 06:45 AM CST
Based upon his reputation as a guitarist and the strength of his new solo
effort A Long Dream about Swimming Across the Sea, Tyler Ramsey was hired
by Band of Horses to replace Robin Perringer, who departed rather abruptly last
October. Considering that, like many other acts of the same ilk, Band of Horses
has sold it music to commercial concerns — which, in this case, are Wal-Mart and
Ford — it might appear to skeptics that this sequence of events is another
mutually beneficial, indie rock publicity stunt; one that was designed to boost
Ramsey’s profile while also filling Band of Horses’ urgent need to plug a hole
in its line-up before it embarked on a national tour. Although there may be some
truth to this theory, it’s equally true that A Long Dream about Swimming
Across the Sea is so wonderfully crafted that Ramsey deserves to receive
every bit of attention that he can muster for the endeavor.
Songwriters, of course, long have delved into affairs of the heart and
addressed their innermost feelings within their work, and A Long Dream about
Swimming Across the Sea is not any different. Essentially, it serves as a
single-minded apology of sorts from Ramsey to a lover who is slipping away. With
its rolling undercurrent of acoustic guitar, A Long Dream, the pseudo
title track that opens the endeavor, summarizes his quest for connection, and
everything that follows orbits around his emotional self-reflection. There are
songs about how one can become lost within a relationship (Ships) as well
as how lonely a person can feel when it ends (Night Time). There are
moments when Ramsey struggles with the growth and change that can push people
apart (No One Goes Out) as well as those in which he just wants to wipe
the memories from his mind (Once in Your Life). Although his subject
matter hardly is novel, it emanates from so deep within his soul that its
reverberations become inescapable.
It helps considerably that A Long Dream about Swimming Across the Sea’s
musical score is impeccably crafted. Not only do the arrangements provide the
perfect support for each word that Ramsey utters, but they also help to frame
his changing moods. Like Jose Gonzalez, he paints portraits that linger
fragilely in the air, but instead of being coldly detached, he delivers them
with haunting warmth. The world that he creates is aching and vulnerable, and it
is filled with heartache, sorrow, loss, and regret. He turns Jackson Browne’s
These Days into a pensive, weary, and resigned examination of a failing
relationship, while his mini-suite Once in Your Life moves from sad
yearning to drunken determination. There’s no question that A Long Dream
about Swimming Across the Sea is a depiction of Ramsey’s personal journey,
but the beauty that he finds within his pained expressions is ringed by truth,
which is precisely what lends the set its universal appeal.  ˝
A Long Dream about Swimming Across the Sea is available from
Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please
Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2008 The Music Box
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