Albums to watch

The Lillywhite Sessions

Ryley Walker

The Lillywhite Sessions

Sixth full-length release by Chicago singer-songwriter, drummer Ryan Jewell and bassist Andrew Scott Young covering Dave Matthews’ infamously abandoned 2001 art-rock masterpiece of the same name

ADM rating[?]

6.9

Label
Dead Oceans
UK Release date
16/11/2018
US Release date
16/11/2018
  1. 8.0 |   All Music

    Walker plays it exceedingly straight, even when he's delivering good-time numbers like "Kit Kat Jam." This po-faced sincerity winds up underscoring Walker's debt to Dave Matthews Band -- they now seem like a clear influence on his adventurous folk-jazz -- while also highlighting the imagination behind the original set of songs.
    Read Review

  2. 8.0 |   Exclaim

    Not just for Dave Matthews Band fans, Ryley Walker's The Lillywhite Sessions is a reminder that taste is subjective, timing is everything, and you don't always choose the ones you love
    Read Review

  3. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    The start-to-finish interpretations are inclusively weird and wonderful – Walker lobs jazz bombs, avant-garde grenades and abrasive Americana into the mix and strolls away without looking back
    Read Review

  4. 8.0 |   Q

    Completely unexpected, utterly brilliant. Print edition only

  5. 7.8 |   Pitchfork

    He convincingly connects his adolescent love to his adult explorations
    Read Review

  6. 7.4 |   Paste Magazine

    This labor of love represents an earnest conversation between a musical trailblazer and a young fan—an interplay of innovation and tribute that many music fans would likely endorse
    Read Review

  7. 7.0 |   Spectrum Culture

    It’s hard to know whether DMD stalwarts familiar with the original sessions will take kindly to this interpretation, but it hardly matters. More than a few of us might start scrambling into that discography, seeking the edgier, more exhilarating moments until we see what Walker has seen in this music all these years
    Read Review

  8. 6.5 |   Under The Radar

    So while there is, without question, a wink, these covers come from a place of love
    Read Review

  9. 6.0 |   Mojo

    The Lillywhite Sessions doesn't just open another window into Walker's mind, it points out a door to a place beyond. Not everyone will want to go too far through it, but it's an alluring gateway. Print edition only

  10. 6.0 |   The Observer

    This, then, is more of a curio than a proper follow-up to May’s Deafman Glance, and is likely to be of far greater interest to DMB completists than the casual listener, but it makes for an at times intriguing project
    Read Review

  11. 5.0 |   Uncut

    He overthinks the rambling "JTR" and overstuffs the messy collage "Monkey Man." Print edition only


blog comments powered by Disqus

Watch it

Roll over video for more options

Hear it

Latest Reviews

More reviews