''Course in Fable'' is the sixth solo studio album by American musician

Ryley Walker Ryley Walker (born July 21, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Rockford, Illinois. Biography Walker, and critics, have cited the band Genesis and singer-songwriter Nick Drake as early influences. Walker began his career ...

. It was released on April 2, 2021, through Walker's own Husky Pants Records. The album was produced by

John McEntire John McEntire (born April 9, 1970) is an American recording engineer, producer, drummer, and multi-instrumentalist, based in Chicago, Illinois. He is a member of both Tortoise and the Sea and Cake. Early life McEntire was born on April 9, 1970 ...

(of

Tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...

and

the Sea and Cake The Sea and Cake is an American indie rock band based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. As part of the Chicago school of post-rock, the group formed in the mid-1990s from members of The Coctails (Archer Prewitt), Shrimp Boat (Sam Prekop ...

). The album combines the folk rock elements of Walker's previous albums with elements of

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

and

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...

. Critical reception to ''Course in Fable'' was positive, with many critics praising its deviation from Walker's previous albums, integration of prog rock elements, and stylistic diversity. In 2022, Walker released ''Course in Fable Demos and Extras'', consisting of outtakes and alternate versions of the album's material.

Reception

''Course in Fable'' has received positive reviews from critics; on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

score out 100 to ratings from publications, the album received a

weighted mean The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 84 based on 10 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Timothy Monger awarded the album four stars out of five, feeling it contains "some of his alker'smost intricate and satisfying solo material to date." Monger highlighted the album's production and melding of

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

and progressive rock, while also noting Walker's "increasing confidence as an ace bandleader." The site would go on to include ''Course in Fable'' in their

singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...

"Best of 2021" list. Josh Sand of ''

Beats Per Minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

'' gave the album a 76% rating, feeling it showcases Walker's "dual reputations as a singer/songwriter and prolifically-collaborating guitarist." Sand felt that the album could help to combat what he identified as stagnancy in modern progressive rock, stating "''Course in Fable'' presents a vision of how progressive rock can contribute to music past its initial decades." Sand also noted that "Walker doesn’t see intricacy and gratification as mutual exclusives", feeling that the music "rewards attentive listening without its depth getting in the way of its charms on a passive background listen."

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians: *

– guitar, vocals *Bill MacKay – guitar, piano *Andrew Scott Young – bass, piano *Ryan Jewell – drums, percussion *Nancy Ives – cello (on "Rang Dizzy") *Douglas Jenkins – cello, string arrangements (on "Shiva with Dustpan") Technical: *

– production, engineering, mixing *Greg Calbi – mastering Packaging: *Heather Nelson – artwork *Michael Vallera – design, layout, photography

References

{{authority control Ryley Walker albums 2021 albums Husky Pants Records albums Albums produced by John McEntire