Ryan Hooper - Studies Made On A Typewriter

 Released: June 5

Upon my first listen to this new album by Ryan Hooper (a.k.a. Heavy Cloud), I have to admit I was a bit put off, even with being quite familiar with his previous work. It opens up feeling quite sparse and the spoken word is rather confusing, leaving me feeling a bit bewildered and unsure. However, I listened again and the initial confusion seemed to no longer linger. Now, the world of the typed and recited word was much clearer and lucid as the softly whispered words became a bit more sensical. If you’ll allow yourself to just simply experience it, it feels much like a trip into the mid of a writer actively engaged with their craft. The ideas feel sporadic and organic, like they just pop into the ether effortlessly. The combination of these odd spoken words with the surrounding sonic environments that Hooper’s previous work is well known for leads to something ultimately rather surreal and will require efforts on the listener’s part to insert themselves into the bizarre soundscapes. 

Hooper’s previous work does, of course, including spoken word at various points. But there’s a rather unique quality to those spoken words in this album. It’s hard to place exactly, but it feels unusually close. By close, I mean in distance - it feels as though the speaker is just “right there.” Not in front of you, not besides you or even in your vicinity. But rather in almost the exact same spot you are. The speaker tells you all sorts of poetic and somewhat nonsensical things, allowing words to simply form in an impromptu manner. There is one track in which it becomes a bit overwhelming and that is “Clacktake,” as the author describes the tapping of the keys as “they go click clack click clack…” It feels slightly mad quite honestly and the twisted pieces of tonal bits that accompany it sound as though they have been pulled from a tortured phonograph. Honestly, this track is both my least and most favorite moment on the album, magically occupying both roles. 

Studies Made On A Typewriter is honestly a somewhat difficult listen. The speech, the textures, the tones - all are meant to convey a sense of slight madness. The recycling of words and short phrases is uncomfortable at times, but it forces the themes of the album forward. The bit of lunacy it takes to convert the ideas residing within the writers mind and the tactile actions required to effectuate that conversion. It really is odd if you truly start to consider it and I think this album captures very well that tension in the act of creation, particularly with writing.