A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart
| A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart | ||||
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| Studio album by Bill Ryder-Jones | ||||
| Released | 8 April 2013 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock | |||
| Length | 48:00 | |||
| Label | Domino | |||
| Producer | Bill Ryder-Jones, James Ford (add.), Darren Jones (add.) | |||
| Bill Ryder-Jones chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| The Fly | |
| Metro | |
| Mojo | |
| musicOMH |  |
| NME | 8/10 |
| The Observer | |
| Q | |
| This Is Fake DIY | 7/10 |
| Uncut | 8/10 |
A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart is the second studio album by English musician Bill Ryder-Jones. It was released in April 2013 under Domino Records.
Ryder-Jones recorded the album in an upstairs bedroom of his mother's house in Liverpool, England, with members of By the Sea as the backing band. The recordings were produced by Ryder-Jones himself, while it was mixed by James Ford and Darren Jones
James Christopher Monger of Allmusic described the album as an "equally evocative, yet more traditional collection of songs that suggest what Nick Drake might have sounded like had he emerged in the early oughts instead of the late '60s." In addition, Monger felt that the release "never feels like a self-absorbed, autobiographical bore, as Jones' is an enigmatic enough narrator and a gifted enough arranger that what initially seems like ephemera turns out to be surprisingly affecting." At The Fly, Edward Devlin wrote that Ryder-Jones is "a skilled arranger with a keen eye for detail. This surprisingly assured collection of songs sounds like the work of a seasoned songwriter." Barry Nicolson of NME said that the effort is "not maudlin or cynical, but often quite comical", and noted that the music is being "delivered in a hushed, semi-spoken voice that frequently sounds like it’s trying to slunk out of the musical foreground. Once you’ve accustomed yourself to the sedate pace, something haunting, stately and – in a small-scale, arthousey sort of way – cinematic gradually reveals itself." The area of production was touched on by In Your Speakers' Theresa Flanagan who wrote that Ryder-Jones is "a well-seasoned veteran of the music industry and it shows in the well-crafted production, not so much in his genuinely humble affect." At Q, James Oldham highlighted that the album is "melancholic, tauntly-arranged and given warmth by Arctic Monkeys collaborator James Ford's sparse production".
At musicOMH, Martin Headon wrote that "there's more than enough here to establish Ryder-Jones as a serious solo artist – all it needs is one more notch on the self-confidence dial, and that potential could translate into astounding results." Soundblab's Dan Clay told that the listener "leave[s] [...] feeling fully immersed, satisfied and impressed."This Is Fake DIY's Johnny Owen told that "while his vocal delivery sounds as though he’s having to force each word out through cracked lips at the end of a long night, the accompanying music fits perfectly" because it contains "a certain world-worn raggedness." At The 405, Mike Emerson felt that "the album could do with a couple more stand out moments both musically and vocally, however, as far as singer-songwriter albums go, this one stands out a mile." Furthermore, Emerson told that "the straight forward nature of the album doesn't do it any harm whatsoever, yet a lack of any major shift in tempo doesn't do it many favours", and that the truthfulness "really connects, and when distributed with such a softly spoken vocal the songs don't struggle to become quite hypnotising." Dean Van Nguyen of Pitchork wrote that Ryder-Jones "vocal is dulled and rasping throughout, and the songs never blossom like those on If..., seemingly hamstrung by his limited range." At the Metro, Amy Rose Dawson felt that the album "showcase[s] [...] more conventional songwriting in the indie folk vein, big on delicate guitar strumming and pretty piano chords."
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