Shiny Joe Ryan Releases New Album 'Shiny's Democracy'

Today, Shiny Joe also releases the video for "A Stitch In Time," Shiny Joe explains the premise for the video saying, "This song is a love song, but that didn't mean it had to have a super serious video clip.

So for fun I bought a dog costume and headed to the beach with my mate Shane (who's filmed all my video clips for this album) and Chook my housemate Lizzie's dog. Chook is a 2 year old American Pointer/ Blue Heeler who we've had since he was a pup. The video is Chook and I frolicking on the beach in slow motion with some light analog video effects for fun. "

He went on to say that the song "is one of only two songs on the album that I used my original demo as the basis for recording and then overdubbed the rest at home. I got the name from a something my Mum used to say, 'a stitch in time saves nine' and I guess it's a love song at heart. I have a dinky old plastic keyboard I got as a kid that has really cool string quartet sounds on it. I used that as the base for the song and added a bit of guitar and a basic drum beat. It's a simple song but I find it very nice to listen to."

It's been a long, seven year wait since the release of his debut solo album The Cosmic Microwave Background in 2014. His musical offerings are as unique as he is - a mix of genres encompassing country, pop and rock, all mangled and mashed into something new, strange and tender. Joe finally found the time to record this new offering between touring as a crew member for Tame Impala and performing with Pond. He wrote and recorded this second album at Tunafish Studios with his band The Sky Dolphins in Western Australia and as well as mixing it himself along with his Pond bandmates, Jay Watson and James Ireland, it was also carefully mastered by fellow WA musical alumni, Kevin Parker.

Shiny Joe explains the concept behind the prolific artwork for the single and album, "It's a recreation of a photo I saw of Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam being dismissed from parliament in 1975. He's standing on the steps of parliament house surrounded by reporters. I thought it was a very striking image and represented a failure of democracy in Australia. I summoned as many friends as I could, instructed them to dress as 70s as possible and told them to meet me at the clubhouse steps of the Fremantle football oval."

Shiny's Democracy is an album for anyone and everyone and a sign of a musician who wants to try everything once (or twice) with no plans of slowing down. You'll find glimpses of his contributions to his band Pond on the record but Shiny Joe definitely carves a path all of his own. Written with a perfect balance of grit, wit and expertly crafted instrumentals, this second album from Shiny Joe Ryan will place him firmly alongside the rest of the Western Australian musical mainstays and definitely marks his triumphant return from his initial solo offering back in 2014. Today, Shiny Joe Ryan is inviting you to climb aboard the Pub Boat and get your groove on!

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