One of my favorite writers is the Irish Poet and thinker Seamus Heaney. He once said that every artist worth their salt feels a certain pressure during politically difficult times. He was referring to The Troubles in Ireland. I've been feeling this "pressure" watching our current events: the divisions and disinformation; the rise of authoritarianism, propaganda and tensions; and the seeming fundamentalist lean and zeal for profits and deregulation over the convulsing environmental concerns here in America and world-wide. I’ve always felt at the center of music there’s a humanitarian cause. We do these things to contribute not only our interiors, but to how we move through the time we’re living in, and hopefully even to what happens next. Rock n Roll and Folk and Poetry is powerful stuff. I’ve loved it my entire life. I work in it humbly. I felt compelled to share this song now rather then wait for a full album to be ready because of the “pressure” I mentioned earlier. It feels like an important time. Each us should do what we can to offer intelligence and beauty and conscience in contrast to this stormy weather. "On Our Death Day" is a love song. It really is.

I included 2 other recordings on the digital version of the "Maxi-Single" that I felt helped to enunciate my intentions concisely. Please note that only "On Our Death Day" and "And It's Such A Drag (2019 Version)" are available on the 7inch vinyl. But as I was saying...

Track 2 is a noisy reimagining of a song about an intimate confrontation with a narcissist. In the song it’s someone you helped along, gave your faith and time to, fell in love with. Only to finally conclude some hearts are monsters. The song is called “And It’s Such a Drag”, it was originally released as a folkier lament on my 2012 album, In the Dusk of Everything. This new version has myself and Doug Lancio bashing away at our guitars with the great Aaron “The A-Train” Smith on drums, and Kelley Looney on bass. I love the way this gang feels and sounds. I love how a gang can put a match to a song.

The 3rd Track (which is only available as a bonus on the digital version of this maxi-single) is a Leonard Cohen cover. It’s from his masterpiece, You Want it Darker. The song is called “Steer Your Way”. My version was originally recorded for a limited release 2017 Record Store Day vinyl-only tribute album called Like a Drunk in a Midnight Choir. I had recorded the song just after the 2016 election and Cohen’s death. The song is so brutal and generous. Part hammer and part loving compass, it helped to “steer” me back towards hope and solid footing that autumn I spent working so intimately with this masterful gang of words. I’ve loved Leonard Cohen’s work since I was 16. It feels right to include it in this song cycle, it says so clearly what needs to be said right now. I only wish that this was the Cohen song that every American Idol contestant chose to sing. We might then have that harder conversations we need to have with ourselves and each other… The organizers of the tribute album (Rand Foster in particular) were kind enough to let me share it with you here. I’d be remiss not to point out that Olly Knights of Turin Brakes sings the beautiful backing vocals you’ll hear. And my wildly talented old friend David Henry played cello.

Thank you for reading this. And thank you for purchasing music. I hope it offers some beauty and lightning.

Matthew Ryan
4/29/19