Received wisdom about RYAN ADAMS' creative curve seems to be that he experienced something of a blip with "Rock & Roll", began to claw it back with "Love Is Hell" and has truly come back into form with the new "Cold Roses".
As yet, your reviewer hasn't clapped ears around most of "Cold Roses", but if "Let It Ride" is indicative, then it's not hard to see why the advance notices are so positive. Because, with "Let It Ride", Ryan Adams is back in roots-y territory and doing what he does best. It is indeed a thing of some beauty, instilled with a semi-acoustic vibe, plaintive vocals, deep south imagery ("Tennessee's a brother to my sister Carolina/ where they're gonna bury me, and I ain't ready to go") and a lovely vibrato guitar part that aches all over the song.
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Iintriguingly, "Let It Ride" is also a group co-write, suggesting that The Cardinals clearly help rock Ryan's world on a regular basis. Perhaps he missed Whiskeytown more than we'd imagined after all? Whatever, they obviously know their onions, have helped focus the prodigal one and lend symapthetic support one and all. Besides, one of them answers to the name 'Cashdollar'. It doesn't get better than that, does it?
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