It's been a good year for Matthew Ryan fans, with new music — and performances —coming fast and furious. The longtime Nashville-based singer-songwriter even managed to pull off a few surprises, including news of his upcoming album Last Night We Became Swans, which is the debut record by the Summer Kills, a new band he's fronting. It's due April 27.

They've released two singles from record so far, including the title track, for which you can watch a lyric video below, and "Collide."

His two bandmates are Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson of the ambient duo Hammock. Turns out, there's "a long and beautiful story" to this turn of events, but Ryan boils it down: "Essentially Marc and Andrew created the music while I wrote the words and melodies and then sang," he writes on his website. "It took us seven years to finally agree that it was ready to be shared with you."

On their Bandcamp page, where you can pre-order a digital copy of the record, Thompson and Byrd joke that "the reason we've waited so long to realize it is mainly due to the fact that we're relentlessly stubborn," but Ryan adds that is was more about dedication to the music and "having to satisfy each of our instincts and standards."

The three members claim influences from Brian Eno to New Order, Daniel Lanois to Interpol, and offer a tantalizing description of the music, saying the combination of Hammock's post-rock sound with Ryan's grit is like a "rough hand on a silk dress," and the album as a whole, they say, is a modern love story.

"It's some of the most cinematic and emotional stuff I've been a part of. It's smart but instinctual, filmic in that it has a tone throughout. And thematically, there's a story being told - it has a beginning, middle and an end," Ryan continues. "But it's more impressionistic than a concept record, it's essentially following a love story through all the weather and the events that define that space between two people. And it even pans out a bit further ... But it never loses sight of that thread between the 'two' hearts it's exploring."

Calling it "as much a sonic adventure as it is a lyrical or musical adventure," he shares that the album was mixed by Peter Katis, who has worked with the National, Japandroids and Glen Hansard.

This comes only a month after the release of Starlings Unadorned, a collection of demos and acoustic arrangements of select songs found on his previous record, Hustle Up Starlings, released just 10 months before that in May 2017.

Ryan, whose friend Brian Fallon produced last year's effort, is about to head to Europe with Fallon's band, the Gaslight Anthem, for a string of dates celebrating the 10th anniversary of their breakthrough The 59 Sound. This comes in the midst of a handful of Ryan's own headlining dates, including some intimate house shows, and after a lengthy tour supporting the Old 97s frontman Rhett Miller. You can find the full list of tour dates below. Check Ryan's website for more information.

Matthew Ryan 2018 Tour Dates

May 2 - The Cowan at Top Gold - Nashville, Tenn.
May 9 - Grocery On Home - Atlanta, Ga.
May 10 - The Pour House - Raleigh, N.C.
May 11 - Scott and Bam's Place - Richmond, Va.
May 12 - Rosie's Cafe Concerts - Brick Township, N.J.
May 16 - The Kennett Flash - Kennet Square, Pa.
May 17 - Berlin - New York, N.Y.
May 18 - Live at Drew's - Ringwood, N.J.
May 19 - Log House Concerts - Westport, Mass.
May 22 - Hollywood Gardens - Rochester, Pa.
May 23 - John and Maryann's - Cleveland, Ohio
May 24 - Chez Dauphinais - Grosse Pointe, Mich.
May 25 - Dave and Sirena's - Carmel, Ind.
July 20 - Hammersmith Apollo - London, England
July 21 - Hammersmith Apollo - London, England
July 23 - Vicar Street - Dublin, Ireland
July 24 - Barrowlands - Glasgow, Scotland
July 25 - O2 Apollo - Manchester, England
July 27 - 013 - Tilberg, Netherlands
July 28 - Palladium - Cologne, Germany
July 29 - Palladium - Cologne, Germany
July 30 - The Borderline - London, England
Aug. 1 - The Prince Albert - Brighton, U.K.
Aug. 2 - Kingsmead Show - High Wycombe
Aug. 3 - The Maze - Nottingham, U.K.
Aug. 4 - Old Cinema Launderette - Durham, U.K.

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