Hear Ryan Adams’ Lonesome New Folk-Rock Song ‘To Be Without You’
Ryan Adams sings about heartbreak on new folk-rock song “To Be Without You.” The singer-songwriter contemplates his loneliness in the midst of an upbeat arrangement of acoustic guitar, drums, tambourine and congas.
Adams said he wrote “To Be Without You” – and his upcoming LP, Prisoner – from a dark place. “It broke my soul in a zillion pieces writing this,” he said. “This record mattered more to me than any record before it, and my life depended on making it. I would have died inside if I hadn’t. I was broken. I don’t know what it is. But I know I had to write it and I know I have to sing these songs so I can live and keep living and breathing.”
The dark period stemmed from a “very public divorce” during the writing of Prisoner, Adams said. In his Instagram post, he alluded to the pain of that breakup, saying that creating the album was his path through “total fucking darkness and things nobody can plan for … It’s a map for anybody who got lost like I get lost.”
Prisoner is out February 17th. Earlier this month, Adams announced the LP and released power ballad “Do You Still Love Me?” He also recorded acoustic versions of the song at Electric Lady Studios using a vintage Voice-O-Graph recording booth. Adams hinted at included those limited-edition singles in some copies of Prisoner.