Twist is the California-based Ryan’s first album under her own name after four as astroPuppees. It opens with the workmanlike ‘About A Girl’, like a mid-career REM outtake, but then the album was produced by Don Dixon. ‘Bridie’s Eyes’ and ‘The Beautiful Child’ have sublime Van Dyke Park strings underpinning Ryan’s charming vocals. ’The Lady’s Daughter’ and the oompahing ‘That’s All’ feature mouth-watering harmonies. Her version of Beck’s ‘Lost Cause’ doesn’t quite fit in, but Ryan is brimful of confidence and otherwise in Twist she has offered up an album of songs about various aspects of womanhood that is so bright it might just prolong the summer.
KEY TRACK: ‘BRIDIE’S EYES’