Ryan Parks aka FIT OF BODY is a true multihyphenate as a mix-media artist, solo song auteur, and CEO of the critically robust cassette tape label, HARSH RIDDIMS. He reunites with label 2MR to deliver a celebration of the halfway point between the after-party and the house. Between last night and the morning after. The late-night phone call asking a friend, “Are you here? I just pulled up,” as he says on “In Spirit Of”.
On the title song, “Far from the Rhythm”, he says “I’m over it” almost in playful contrast to the lighthearted neo-new romantics-esque backing track. This declaration is only made sense by the “it’s all good in the end” outro chant which plays into the track's triumphant feel. FAR FROM THE RHYTHM, as a whole, mines the reflective chasm that hopefully befalls one as they approach peak adulthood (the first of many peaks probably). A whirl of divine detachment (but not cynicism!).
At the start of the musical incarnation of Fit of Body/Harsh Riddims, Ryan once told a friend that he felt somewhat disconnected from the affairs and feelings of others due to the abundance of time he spent alone enveloped in books. FAR FROM THE RHYTHM is a reflection of him having been proverbially “OUTSIDE” for a decade now and finding a balance in his boundaries, intimacy, and social orbits. Now, one can safely say that Ryan has been fully
immersed in the world. With almost an army reserve level of skate tours, random backing DJ gigs for his popstar homegirls, and a continued energetic and chronal investment in his family, musical colleagues, girlfriends, and elders, the distance has been closed.
Ryan has been on a nondenominational rumspringa of sorts over the last decade. Now, fully immersed in the world, he has achieved his perfect cruising altitude above it all. Or at least for now, he has. This has been the process of the thoughtful loner and young hierophant integrating into the village. Learning to know when to seek the solitude that was once his whole kingdom and conversely learning when to let the light of others pierce his chambers. His controlled orbit has grown to include 2MR comrade Elizabeth Wight who, as the only guest on the record, contributes richness and levity simultaneously on the romantic Fashion- House single, “WHEN WE SLEEP”. All in all, FAR FROM THE RHYTHM denotes a calm, decisive, and confident Fit of Body, still rolling right along.
credits
released July 7, 2023
All songs written by Ryan Parks except "In Loving Memory" and "When We Sleep" written by Elizabeth Wight
supported by 6 fans who also own “Far From The Rhythm”
Raven is gentle, the rhythms are like a breath brushing the surface of the skin, the music has the consistency of a cloud, weighless, no sweat here or grit, effortless glide, as heavy as a memory or fleeting as a thought.
boogiedroid
supported by 5 fans who also own “Far From The Rhythm”
Recently discovered Caribou from Four Tet. Love the mood he creates in his pieces and looks like this album will become my favorite one from Caribou smestvirishvili
supported by 4 fans who also own “Far From The Rhythm”
I'm a bit anoid with my silf that I only just found this fantastic album yesterday, but also chuffed to fuck that I have at all. Love it so much what a wining collaboration 👊🔥🔥 Toblermone