Now Reading
It’s a New Era of Music for Ryland James

It’s a New Era of Music for Ryland James

Ryland James

After years of releasing music and performing for sold-out audiences, Ryland James has finally come to terms with who he is and his purpose.

The multiplatinum and JUNO Award-nominated artist kicked off 2022 with a brand new single titled, “I Give Everything,” a soulful take on losing a bit of ourselves when we love someone too much. The track comes after James took some time to focus on immense mental and personal growth.

Hailing from Deseronto, Ontario, James emerged on the global stage in 2019 with his breakout single “In My Head.” In his short but impressive career, he has garnered two JUNO Award nominations and has received critical praise from prominent music outlets like Billboard. Following the release of his self–titled 2020 debut EP, he surpassed 89 million global streams.

“I Give Everything” is just the start of what is bound to be an incredible year for James, and he took some time to talk more about the single and what’s upcoming with OFM.

Can you begin by telling us more about the concept and inspiration behind your latest track, “I Give Everything?”
It’s somewhere new I’m going with my music, and it’s very much about a real experience I had in the beginning of the relationship that I’m in now. I wrote it back in September 2020, and I was experiencing falling in love for the first time. It happened a few months after we started dating. Then we had to be apart for the longest time because he had to move home with his family across the province, so I had a lot of intense emotions happening. The song is basically just about me falling in love for the first time and giving everything to the relationship. Falling in deep and being completely consumed by it, but realizing at the same time, am I losing myself in this?

Ryland James

It was a very scary feeling because I’m so used to being independent. To fully open up and give myself to this other person, it was like, wow, I’ve never experienced this before. This is intense. So, I wrote a song about it basically saying I’m giving you my everything. I’m trusting you. Please don’t hurt me because when I give my all, I dive in deep. I don’t want to lose myself in this, and I hope that you take care of me.

What are you most excited about putting this song out into the world?
It’s my first single of 2022, and it’s my first pop-leaning song since “Blame” and “Save Me” at the beginning of 2021. It’s been a minute since I’ve put out a big pop single. I am very excited about it because it’s the most pop I’ve done in terms of sound and sonics, and it’s just the beginning of a new era for me. I have a lot of visuals and stuff coming up with it, and I have so much more music behind it. It feels like this is part two of all the music I put out before. It’s very much a new era, and I’m excited for people to hear it. Hopefully, they understand what I’m trying to say.

You took a year off to focus on self-reflection and personal growth?
Yes. This last year, 2021 specifically, I feel like was a tough one for everybody. It’s been so weird adjusting to this new normal, and I’m sure everybody’s normal looks different. I was still releasing music, but I was much quieter and not on social media much. I wanted to really figure out who I was as a person and who I was becoming, and I feel like social media can take you out of that. So, I took my time to be centered in myself, and I learned a lot of spiritual practices like meditation and yoga and took the time to realize who I was.

So many things have changed for me over the course of the pandemic. I was out on the road and doing the thing, but I was very unsure of myself at the time, and I was getting into a weird place mentally. Honestly, taking this time off was such a blessing in disguise because there was so much change. I came out to the world, got into my first relationship, and just became more and grounded in who I am. I feel like I was very much in my head before, and strangely, being by myself has made me feel more in myself and my power. I am still in that mentality right now.

How is coming out as queer going to affect your artistry?
In every single way (laughs). I feel like before, I was writing from a place of idealizing what relationships were, who I thought I wanted to be, and what I thought other people wanted me to be. I am still very much connected to the music, but now I am singing from a different perspective. I almost understand the music I wrote years ago a lot more now than I did when I wrote it, which is strange. I can relate and put the pieces together. That whole era was writing about things I’d never experienced or imagining how I could fit myself into that scenario.

Ryland James

This new music, I am a lot more open. I am writing from a real place and what I’ve genuinely been experiencing in my relationship. I’ve been in it now for over a year and half, so there are lots of things that I have written about. Being out and honest with myself, I just feel more comfortable. I can relax around people now. Before, I felt like I was putting on a façade. I was somebody I wasn’t. I was trying to hide the queerness and deny myself. Now, I’m like, I don’t care. People can say whatever they want about me, but I am more of myself than I ever was before.

How has “I Give Everything” been received by listeners so far?
Honestly, this has been one of the best singles I have ever put out. It’s been incredible how people have responded to it. Every comment that I’ve been seeing about it has been very much of ‘I love this,’ and, ‘I’m listening to it on repeat.’ People are even dancing to it, so I feel like it’s exactly what I wanted to accomplish. The stuff I’ve put out before was a lot more organic sounding, but this song has more production umph to it in a way that I’ve never done before. I feel like people are really enjoying that aspect of it. I’ve always loved that kind of music, and I always imagined myself doing something like that.

Ultimately, what do you hope listeners take away from your work?
With every song that I write, I just want people to access their emotions and feelings because that’s what I do with songs. I love to use Adele as an example. She’s my biggest idol and the person that I’ve tried to model my own music and emotional landscape after. Even with her new album that just came out, there are certain songs that I connect so deeply with. I can feel the emotion reverberating through my body, and those are the types of songs I want to create for other people. I want people to feel something and be healed through music because I feel like that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day. I want to be able to take what I’ve learned from music and what it’s given me and give it back to others.

Have you always had a passion for singing and songwriting?
I have always loved music. From the time I was very young, my parents said when I was two, they could hear me singing in my car seat (laughs). I feel like from that age, I was always wanting to be a singer, whether I realized it or not. I think that’s where the path was going to take me. When I was a little kid in school, even in kindergarten, when the teacher would ask who wanted a solo part in the musical, my hand would always shoot up.

It’s odd because I was the shyest kid. I was so shy, socially anxious, and very much to myself, but when it came to performing, I was just very much like, I know this is what I want to do. So, I definitely had that, but the writing didn’t come until later. Singing and performing was there, but the writing was a little more challenging for me, but I knew I wanted to do it. I was just very perfectionistic about it. As a teenager in high school, I took a course where the whole semester was literally songwriting.

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects or anything else you would like to mention or plug?
Right now, I think that it’s, but there is definitely more new stuff on the horizon. This is just the first of many!

Stay up-to-date and connect with James by following him on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, or visit his official website, RylandJamesMusic.com. “I Give Everything” is available on Spotify and all other music streaming platforms.

Photos Courtesy of Lane Dorsey

What's Your Reaction?
Excited
3
Happy
0
In Love
1
Not Sure
0
Silly
0
Scroll To Top