Vancouver-based singer-songwriter Ryan Fischer went into Little Red Sounds Recording Studio this past winter with a bunch of bare bones acoustic arrangements of his folk songs, and came out with the 10 track genre-sweeping album “Commercials For Heaven”.
Ryan initially approached producer Felix Fung and asked if he’d listen to demos of his “weird acoustic songs” to see if he might be interested in collaborating on fleshing out the tracks. Felix replied “man weird is my jam”.
The following week Fischer went into Little Red to meet Fung and his partner Max Sample, and they formed a live off-the-floor trio.
Speaking about his first foray in the studio: “I had so much fun. And learnt a ton”, says Fischer. “I was really blown away by Felix and Max’s creative talent, their musicianship, and the way they put their hearts and souls into my songs. It was a wonderful collaboration. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”
“Commercials for Heaven” is one of the first songs Ryan Fischer wrote. It reflects a period of difficult struggles he had trying to make a living in the TV industry while failing miserably at personal relationships.
“Each line represents a gospel of disastrous missteps I took away from my soul,” says Fischer. “Singing about it gave me this sense of detached calm amidst the feelings of isolation and impending destitution that bore down on me. The song was a kind of relief valve that allowed me to laugh about it all, especially at myself.”
“Commercials For Heaven” is a song about looking up from the depths of hell for signs of the divine and getting a little wink back from somewhere way beyond the clouds.
With melodic hooks that remind you of a sound you may have heard but can’t quite place, Fischer will be the first to admit it has an inkling of “The Cure” influence in it, “Wish” being one of his all-time favourite albums.
Ryan Fischer will be releasing singles from “Commercials For Heaven” all summer and into the fall when the whole album finally drops.
