Stream: Ryan Ritual, ‘Where Did Love Go’

Kevin Bronson on June 9th, 2023

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Ryan Marshall Lawhon, one-half of the brother duo Mating Ritual (and before that, Pacific Air), introduced his solo project Ryan Ritual back in February.

After adding a second song (“Rip Me Apart”) last month, he’s back with a third single, “Where Did Love Go” — and the news that his debut album bearing that title will be out Sept. 15. The new song twinkles like a brokenhearted New Wave anthem from the ’80s: “There’s an army out there dancing alone / Yeah, the bars are empty every night / Don’t you wanna feel the neon glow / Don’t you wanna feel alive.”

Chris Zane, who had worked on some of both Mating Ritual and Pacific Air releases, produced the album. “When I started writing my solo album, I wanted separation between my identity and Mating Ritual’s identity,” Ryan Ritual says. “‘Where Did Love Go’ became my North Star of sorts, guiding me both sonically and thematically. I’ve always been wary of making music that pulls from my favorite artists (Cleaners From Venus, The Smiths, etc.) at the risk of listening fatigue, but I was in a bad place when I wrote this album and couldn’t escape returning to my comforting, nostalgic roots.”

||| Stream: “Where Did Love Go”