Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Those Occupational Hazards that we must traverse daily, if dealt with in a timely and reassuring manner, can give us a rhythm to our step and a pleasing note in our soul; for should we take heed and learn from the sound they perform for us, we can overcome the warnings, the accidents, and the damage that life has in store for us and begin to appreciate the security in the style and the satisfaction of artistic exposure.
Following on from Ciaran Ryan’s debut solo album, Banjaxed, in 2019, the full effect of growth can be observed in the offering under the guise of the Ciaran Ryan Band, the superb Occupational Hazards.
Growth is always the point, to expand the sound further, to take the next step and avoid the pitfalls that await with the same steps taken before. That is the trail of excitement that the band stride into best foot forward and with no qualms of repetition, for this is an album striking out in to the raw and the sensitive, an album that has fought the fight with honour against the foes of desperate boredom and emerged smiling as the victor.
Joining Ciaran Ryan is Donald Hay on drums, Bev Morris on bass, Chris Waite on guitar, and Andrew Waite on accordion and keyboards, and this intelligent ethos that surrounds each instrumental track is one of serious joy and intent; there is no time for rumination in the depths of each second being played, it is just a strong hold of fortune that must be grasped and never let go.
The sophistication and finesse of the recording is captured and framed with a grace becoming this unwavering sound, and as track such as Wild Card, Feckno, State Of The Art, Brechin Bad, and The Shepherd, an almost wild growl to the face of jazz undertones realises its place in the world, and that grace, the rawness of emotion is combined to bring together an herculean effort to the very front of the stage of the audience’s, the listener’s attention; and it is well worth the dynamic interaction that will be exchanged between the heart and the soul.
Occupational Hazards is a beauty of existential thought driven by the power of the instrumental beast.
Ian D. Hall