Coming from Toronto, Canada, singer/songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Flores releases his emotionally-rich single "Alone." Grasping inspiration from a variety of sounds and genres, Ryan Flores crafts his songs to carry simple yet heartfelt emotion through blissful melodies. While working on his debut album "Introspective" set to release late summer 2020, Ryan Flores drops the first single being "Alone." The single features Ryan Flores' soft and ethereal vocals, while he evens out "Alone" with lush acoustic guitar and piano. All to highlight the song's message of reflecting on a broken relationship and healing yourself with more than just time. "Alone" opens with timeless and soft acoustic guitar picking, giving off a sweet-sounding melody that enhances Ryan Flores' message. As he begins to sing his sorrows of wanting to change the way things are, we can't help but find peace within these vocals and resonate with the feelings of loneliness, especially now. While moving into the chorus, Ryan Flores adds calming piano chords bringing "Alone" a wide variety of instrumental emotion. Not to mention Ryan Flores' talented vocals and beautiful melisma, he clearly understands how to get his message across at its maximum capacity. Through fine-tuned production, instrumentals, and vocals, Ryan Flores' "Alone" is keeping us sane.
You can listen to "Alone" here.
Hey Ryan Flores, welcome to BuzzMusic! We’re loving the soft approach and heartfelt emotion that you’ve tied in on “Alone”. Why did you want to release a track that speaks on healing and reflecting?
With “Alone”, I wanted to show a different side of me. A side that not many people see and is usually confined within the walls of my bedroom. Everyone goes through ups and downs in life, and we tend to focus on and share a lot of the great, happy moments we experience. But it’s also important to reflect upon and acknowledge those times when things weren’t so great. It’s those experiences that encourage us to deeply reflect on ourselves, and how we can grow from them and emerge even stronger than before. I typically turn to songwriting as a form of therapy when I’m feeling lost, sad, or frustrated. “Alone” was written during a rough time in my life. It was only after I committed my thoughts to paper and after a period of deep reflection that I came to terms with what was happening and moved on from it. I hope “Alone” serves as a reminder and an indication that everyone goes through different situations in life, and the way we deal with things varies between us. Some may choose to face things head-on. Some may choose to hide their feelings. Some may choose to show them. Some will avoid them. At the end of the day, it’s important to take that time to reflect and to realize that anyone and everyone go through situations where they feel alone. I really put my heart on my sleeve for this one, and I hope it resonates with listeners.
Within your single “Alone”, Ryan Flores sings passionately about moving forward for the better. Could you share how your songwriting process went about when navigating through lyrics that would fit “Alone” best?
This song draws inspiration from a time when I was going through something that really affected me mentally, physically, and emotionally. I was very emotional and wanted to focus my energy on something productive. So I picked up my guitar, opened up the Notes app on my phone, and started writing down a bunch of words and sentences that were on my mind at the time. My goal was to just be very honest with myself and with my feelings. No sugarcoating, no hiding. I reflected upon what had happened, what I was feeling, what I was doing to cope, and what I wanted to do to move on. I then picked up my guitar and started noodling around. I remember listening to a few acoustic songs by Tori Kelly that night, who by the way is one of my inspirations for singing and songwriting. There’s one song she has called “Beautiful Things” that really influenced how the guitar part for “Alone” came together. After refining the guitar part and re-arranging all the words and sentences I wrote down, “Alone” was born. It was unlike anything I had written or released before, which was typically more upbeat, happy, and very pop sounding. “Alone” was different, but very true and relevant to what I was going through at the time I wrote it. In terms of my songwriting process as a whole, what I do when I finish writing a song is that I let it “sit on the shelf” for at least a year, meaning I don’t come back to it, listen to it or play it for that amount of time. If after a year I still love the song after one listen, it then becomes a candidate for release.
We’ve noticed that Ryan Flores has quite the discography ranging back to 2012. How has your music changed since then, or evolved over time?
I started out with just acoustic guitar and vocals because that’s all I really had back when I started. In the years following, I’ve learned a lot about songwriting, production, and the music business, which in many ways has influenced the way I approach my own songs. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet and work with other artists, musicians, and producers who have helped to shape my writing and my sound to what it is currently. Certainly, my sound has evolved into something that sounds more full and refined, and not amateurish, haha! But the core of my sound and my music will always remain. That core is driven and inspired by my acoustic guitar, pop and R&B music from the late 90s and early 2000s, and music by early YouTube artists. It’s a sound that I love and I don’t find as much in the current music scene. But it’s a sound that is so true to me and my roots.
We’ve heard that Ryan Flores is releasing his debut album “Introspective” in late summer 2020. Could you give our readers a glimpse of what we might hear on your upcoming debut album?
“Introspective” builds upon the stories and feelings I established in my first EP “Wayfarer”. It contains a brand new collection of unreleased songs that resulted from silent and solo introspection over the highs and lows, the simple and complex, the laughs and cries, and the satisfaction and stresses of life. You’ll experience a roller coaster of emotions as you listen from top to bottom. Threaded throughout are honest lyrics, real stories, captivating harmonies, and catchy choruses. There are tracks that you’ll want to blast on a nice sunny day and tracks that you’ll probably play in your bedroom as you look out your window in deep reflection. Sonically, it’s a mix of acoustic pop and R&B, heavily influenced by the pop and R&B music of the late 90s and early 2000s. Songwriting wise, it’s inspired by my own personal life experiences and encounters I’ve had with various people in the last 5 years or so.
What can we expect to see from you throughout 2020? Apart from releasing “Introspective”, I have another side project that I’m working on called KWNTO Sounds that I started earlier this year. One of the things I’m doing as part of this project is curating playlists on Spotify and Apple Music. The goal of these playlists is to highlight smaller, independent, or undiscovered artists. There is one playlist I curate monthly called SIDETRACKS which features hand-picked new pop and R&B releases. I also work alongside a small team of music curators to curate playlists based on genre, themes or moods. In total, we have 14 published playlists, with more to come later this year. As much as I love creating and writing my own music, I’m also very passionate about sharing great music by smaller artists for the world to hear. A lot of focus is put on the bigger artists these days, so my goal is to provide a platform for those smaller, independent artists who are just as deserving. We have a few more ideas coming down the road to help shine the spotlight on these artists, and I’m excited to roll them out. Follow @kwntosounds on Instagram and visit kwntosounds.com to stay updated. Aside from that, I’ve also started compiling and writing some new material for a potential next album. It’s still in the preliminary stages but I’m excited at the prospect of sharing even more songs from my catalog.
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