RYAN WRIGHT

Virginia-based singer/songwriter/producer Ryan Wright creates songs that don’t make sense on paper–an ethereal voice singing angsty lyrics over confectionary synth-driven hooks. Her lyrics–at times profane, often tongue-in-cheek, occasionally devastating–reveal a searing wit and a sensitive heart. Her arresting voice embodies the kind of teenage heartache that is deeply personal and yet universal and timeless. Her influences range from the classic (The Cars, Roy Orbison, The Smiths) to the current (The Killers, The 1975, Lana Del Ray) to the local musicians she grew up playing with alongside her dad. Her indie dream-pop has been compared to Lorde, Lennon Stella and The Japanese House. Her undeniably relatable lyrics and dreamy production take the mundane—everything from friend drama to being ghosted by boys to dealing with anxiety—and transform it into the sublime. Wright confides, “My songs are essentially my bottled-up emotions all being poured out in a way that makes them sound surreal. I wanted to make these very relatable experiences sound unfamiliar and strange–almost like listening to a soundtrack from an alternate reality.”