Rich Ragany | Sierra Bonita | Single review

Rich Ragany: Sierra Bonita

(Via Barrel and Squidger Records)

YouTube

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Rich Ragany releases Sierra Bonita from his recent debut solo album as his new single with an accompanying video shot in his adopted home of London.

It’s a song which certainly captures the mood of the album which proved to be an emotive, soul-searching and more stripped-down collection of songs than we had previously come to expect from this rock’n’roll trailblazer.

The recent release of Rich Ragany’s debut album You Can Get Dark With Me heralded the start of his new solo career after closing the previous chapter with his band the Digressions with whom he had fashioned three great rock’n’roll albums. It was clearly time for a little more introspection and reflection, with a degree of nostalgia thrown into the mix, as Rich channelled all his energy into a new batch of songs. And it proved to be a collection of songs which are up close, personal and thought provoking all in equal measures as vibrant rhythms and uplifting melodies took us on a captivating and soul-searching journey into both darker times and hopefully brighter skies ahead. The fact that it was Louder Than War’s album of the week, reviewed here, tells you all you need to know about the quality and passion that emerged from those finally honed grooves.

And now Rich releases one of those songs, Sierra Bonita, as his new single with an accompanying video produced and directed by Craig Temple which serves very much as a love letter to London both past and present. As an artist who was born in Calgary, Canada, seasoned in New York City and is now very much UK based, it’s a song which represents quite a shift in direction for this rock’n’roll trailblazer, but which nonetheless demonstrates the quality of his songwriting and performance which will serve Rich well in this new chapter of his career.

As Rich explains about the song’s inspiration, “My friend from LA… her Dad disappeared on her early… but she tried for a reconnection. It didn’t work… but we spoke about how brave it was to try and steal back some moments in their lives. In a more universal way, the song is about stealing one last moment of empathy and understanding in a lost situation. What it can do for the hearts involved. Moving on doesn’t necessarily mean giving up.” And this is a powerful statement that we should all perhaps reflect upon at certain points in our lives.

Rich plays most of the instrumentation on the song but is supported by Russell Broom on electric guitar, bass and drum programming and Andy Brook on background vocals. And it’s a song which certainly fits the more back to basics approach that Rich sought to achieve for the album as a whole as he explains, “Every song is a mix of home recording, from the first day of writing each song, and proper studio stuff, to keep a real personal ‘straight from the moment of inspiration’ feel but have a sonically and emotionally expanded spirit as well.”

And with such an approach in mind I have no doubt we have so much more to look forward to in the future from Rich Ragany, so watch this space.

You can buy the album here.

You can find Rich Ragany on Facebook.

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All words by Ian Corbridge. You can find more of his writing at his author profile here.