New Music: Ryal – Love Lines

Love can be seen from differing viewpoints and is often understood very differently by those in a relationship. Maybe that’s why Love Line’s two versions are so contrasting.

New Yorkers Ryal, comprising vocalist/keyboardist Jacque Ryal and producer Aaron Nevezie, cast a warm texture over the main version of Love Lines, even though the track reflects how easy it can be to fall in love but how hard it is to recover when it fades into a time-shrouded mist.

Analogue-sounding synths enhance that air of warmth and wistfulness that hangs over the track, confident but not assertive, allowing Jacque Ryal’s vocal delivery to place the heartache of the lyrics at Love Lines’ emotional centre.

The second version, comprising a guitar and Ryal’s vocals, doesn’t appear to carry the same viewpoint, however. It’s as if the starker approach reveals an anger under the pain, the words – and the emotions behind them – not quite in sync. The ways we protect ourselves emotionally can sometimes not look like we expect or mean them to.

The duo has described the song as “an intimate ballad about distance, memory, and forgiveness… what it means to remember someone you can no longer reach.”

Love Lines is streaming on Bandcamp and Spotify. Connect with Ryal on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok for the latest music updates from the duo.