Ryan Scott Long - catharsis (2023) Hi Res

Since i was seventeen, i’ve wanted to name my debut album “catharsis”. it’s an ancient greek theatrical concept — a word that represents healing, using art to find solace in the cognitive dissonance of life, love, and heartbreak. of course, at seventeen, the concept of recording an album was something i never thought possible — i hadn’t even written a single song (at least one that anyone will ever hear), much less an album’s worth of songs. catharsis, for me, was a pipe dream.

i was drawn to that word because that was what music has always meant to me. the lyrics of my heroes have forever helped to guide me in releasing myself from complicated feelings i held inside, never speaking about. eventually, i started writing. the songs i wrote did bring me some sense of catharsis in their own right, but the album itself still had yet to take shape. the first song i wrote that ended up on this record was perseus, which tells the story of a relationship frozen in time. i had been listening to a lot of sara bareilles (namely, her song "orpheus"), and it led me to think about what other ancient greek myths i could write a song about. i thought of the myth of perseus and medusa and how that feeling of being stuck in a relationship, unable to progress and yet unable to leave, probably felt a lot like being one of medusa’s victims — frozen in stone for the rest of time, waiting for perseus to free them from their fate. i knew perseus was something special and that it belonged on catharsis. somehow, i didn’t notice the common theme between the two.

it wasn’t until i finished writing the second song for the record, then untitled, that it clicked. i was struggling to find a title for the song — there wasnt a lyric that jumped out at me and screamed “title”. i began scouring the internet for a word that described the feeling the song captured — the recognition that a relationship has come to only cause pain, and that the only way to achieve true catharsis is to change your perspective and to leave the situation. it was then that i discovered the ancient greek theatrical concept of “anagnorisis” — which usually occurs just before the catharsis — where a character discovers the true nature of their circumstances. the song had found it’s title. this time, i connected the dots.

ancient greek mythology is one of the longest surviving collections of stories and legends still told today. folk music is a genre that stems from the practice of passing down traditional songs and poems throughout generations. both of these storytelling concepts have always fascinated me individually, and in the writing of these two songs, i found a way to intersect them. before long, those two songs turned to ten songs — a collection of stories and allusions to various ancient greek figures and concepts that follow the arc of a modern relationship — the birth of something beautiful, the tumultuous descension, the refusal to let go, the constant uphill climb, the anagnorisis, and finally, the catharsis. as i wrote and recorded these songs, they became my catharsis.

i have never been more proud of something i’ve created than i am this album. all ten of these songs are completely self-written, which is something i never imagined i’d be able to do. while a concept record, this is a perfect snapshot of who i am at twenty-two — as a person, as an artist, as a storyteller, and as a lover of words and music. i hope you love listening to it as much as i loved making it.