Ryan Traster, ‘Cruel Love’ – Free MP3 Download

Though Ryan Traster is now a Brooklyn troubadour, he's very much a Midwestern transplant, a legacy that comes through loud and clear in his songs

His new single 'Cruel Love,' out on Dead Letter Records, is tinged with Americana tones of a Minnesota summer, which gives it an earthy charm that seems rarer and rarer to come across these days. Grab a 'Cruel Love' free download here.

The new single 'Cruel Love' was "arranged and recorded in one evening," Traster tells Diffuser.fm, "the result of listening to way too much Nick Lowe and a relationship gone awry."

Despite the dour title and the song's downbeat backstory, 'Cruel Love' has a kind of take-one-on-the-chin resigned optimism -- part of what we love about Americana. In tone and songcraft, it vaguely nods to Matthew Sweet and Teenage Fanclub, with a bit of J. Mascis laconic slackerism thrown in for good measure.

'Cruel Love' is good road trip material, the kind of song meant to be be heard with the windows down and the highway and bad memories flying by. Get it below.