There are few voices as exciting as that of Ryan Hall. In fact, as he showcases across the 40 minutes of debut album POSTTEENANGST, the rising star may have just dropped the most head-turning debut album of the year.
Hall has amassed over 100,000 followers online in recent years with short videos of the singer splicing up pop hits ‘Call Me Maybe’ and ‘Teenage Dream’ going viral on TikTok. Those wittily pulled-together covers scratched the surface of an artist willing to rip up the rule book and the star steps out into the spotlight on POSTTEENANGST.
The record blurs open with the squeaks of ‘ANESTHESIA’ which whirr into life through Hall’s trademark maximalist production. “I don’t wanna sit with my feelings,” he coos as grungy production and spliced vocals see the singer whip his mind into a frenzy.
POSTTEENANGST shifts up a gear on ‘WAIT UP’ as Hall recruit Atlas in Motion. The star delivers a flick filled with self-sabotage as he overthinks a healthy relationship with notes pages full of draft messages. Soon the track bleeds into ‘STILL’ as Hall pauses for breath and lets the amped-up production fade into a lonely guitar and string of heartbeats. Coming down from the rush of the record’s opening, the producer spends six minutes embracing the pain of a break-up – “you love me still,” he repeats.
On a surface level, it’s the sonics of POSTTEENANGST that make the record such an audacious and outstanding first effort, it’s rare for a fresh face in the industry to find a sound so unique so quickly. But, underneath the ear-catching grandeur of Hall’s first album, is the story of a young man finding his place in society that makes it an endearing listen.
Despite his huge online following, relatively little is known about the star but it is all let into the open on the record. Hall has shared that before the pandemic he was due to head to college and study graphic design before taking the plunge to pursue music full-time. That’s the story at the heart of ‘YOU COULDN’T LOVE IF YOU WANTED TO’, which would be the obvious choice to soundtrack a trailer to POSTTEENANGST. Hall grapples with the pressure of graduating and finding a job as he fights to follow his intuition.
The most radio-ready moment on the record comes in ‘HOMEWRECKER’ as Hall tortures himself with visions of an ex with a new partner. “He doesn’t know you like I do,” the singer muses over a plucky chorus. Those emotions turn lewd moments later on the cathartic ‘POST BREAKUP SEX’ as the star’s thudding production drips in sexual tension.
Throughout the record Hall makes brave and bold decisions in his artistry, conjuring a tangible atmosphere around every effort. The biggest swing comes in a remake of Goo Goo Dolls hit ‘Iris’. Some legendary songs just shouldn’t be touched, and you’d think the 1998 smash would be one of them. Nonetheless, Hall takes a hammer to the original and builds it back up to sound like it was destined to be on his record in the first place – the track’s narrative of needing to find meaning fitting perfectly in POSTTEENANGST.
Despite the constant grappling for meaning in a quarter-life crisis, Hall brings his album to a close with some sense of clarity. The singer pens a break-up letter in ‘REPRISE’, settling for the realisation that, “I don’t miss you but I miss each feeling you gave me”. No sooner has he come to that conclusion that the letter is scrunched into a ball and in chimes monstrous punching-the-pillow production that serves as a release of all the record’s anxiety build-up to that point.
Having let out those last frustrations, a new Hall emerges for the album’s closing minutes on ‘EVERYTHING IS’. “Everything is right in front of us,” he accepts as he embraces the journey of reaching adulthood. It’s clear that Ryan Hall hasn’t found that process easy, but when it sounds as epic as this, that’s certainly no bad thing.
Rating – 5/5
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