Ryan Cabrera - You Stand Watching - Music & Performance - CD

Ryan is back with his eagerly awaited new collection, YOU STAND WATCHING. Produced by Ryan himself, the album offers dramatic evidence of Ryan's rapid growth as both a composer and a lyricist. Featuring the powerful first single "Shine On," this album stands as an exceptional set of songs from an artist who has clearly become someone to watch.

On the strength of "True" and "On the Way Down" -- the twin hit singles from his platinum-selling debut -- acoustic-electric pop star Ryan Cabrera made a gigantic splash in 2004.

Just a year later, he follows up Take It All Away with You Stand Watching, a nice mix of ballads and more up-tempo songs where he dials down the big electric guitars from his former producer, Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik. Instead, he opts for more six-string, and introduces bright piano and chiming, textural electric guitar lead work from touring Goo Goo Doll fretman Greg Suran.

The dashing young Texan also takes complete creative control, self-producing and co-penning each of the 11 tracks. The result is less rock and more pop. But it's also more musical, and just as melodic as always.

The debut single "Shine On" is a joyful sounding track about an impending dumping. "I know you'll be better off without me when I'm gone/ You know you're beautiful/ You're beautiful/ Shine on," Cabrera sings over a swirling cacophony of sweet-as-tea guitar pop.

The second single, "Photo," waxes wistful, yet hopeful, about his lover -- perhaps estranged, perhaps separated by a great distance. Orchestrated with cello, piano and acoustic guitar, the mid-tempo ballad, like "Shine On," is half-sad, half-happy. Kind of like love itself, it shows Cabrera's fans a new level of sophistication.

Both singles are co-written with young Chicago songwriter Andrew Ripp, a protege of late-'80s/early '90s pop radio king Richard Marx.

For Cabrera, the same sense of melody and the gift for great hooks remains a constant, but he stretches out musically on You Stand Watching on several tracks. Some might touch upon the styles and strains of Vanessa Carlton, John Mayer, Santana and even some jazzy passages that fans of Norah Jones will appreciate.

Overall, You Stand Watching is acoustic-electric pop that addresses the joys and travails of romance in the most tuneful way possible. Even the waltz ballad "Fall Baby Fall" (co-written with Shawn Mullins) has a nifty power hook.

On his follow-up, Cabrera uses his sales clout from the smash debut to define his own personal sound: more nuanced both musically and emotionally, while keeping his awesome sense of melody and his all-American nice guy image.

Performer	Ryan Cabrera
Music genre	Rock
Music release type	Album
Media format	CD
Is collectible	Y
Has parental advisory label	N
Number of discs	1
Track listing	From the Start, Hit Me with Your Light, Shine on, Find Your Way, Photo, Our Story, Fall Baby Fall, Last Night, Walking on Water, With You Gone, It's You
Record label	Atlantic
Target audience	Adult
Composer	Ryan
Songwriter	Ryan Cabrera
Music producer	Ryan
Occasion	Birthday, Carnival, New Year's, Thanksgiving, Wedding
Track name	Shine On
Music media format	CD
Is edited	N
Is enhanced	N