1. California's Sweet Unknown

Genre: Folk rock, Americana, southern rock
Length: 4:09
Writer: Ryan Ross Hernandez
Producer: Ryan Ross Hernandez, Chad Fairweather

Song Synopsis

It only makes logical sense for the opening song to present the listener with yet another change in RRH's musical style. Hernandez is ready to take the listener back to the 1970s, and nowhere else on the album is that more apparent than on the opening number "California's Sweet Unknown." The song not only recalls Crosby, Stills & Nash in its tasteful twin lead lines and verses, but the lyrics allude to Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, setting the agenda for the rest of Break in the Clouds pretty clearly for the album's Americana vibe. The opening chords of "California's Sweet Unknown" are acoustic, light and airy, and also layered and cheery, the opening seconds to the entire album are blissful.

The instrumentals and arrangement of this song are mesmerized in a golden, hazy charm that sounds cut straight from the Laurel Canyon of the early 70s. About 90 seconds into the track, the listener gets its first twangy electric guitar leads, sounding loose and jammy, which plays simple with the drum beat but then again, this isn't a album where Hernandez shows he's a modern day guitar hero. His singing style has definitely taken an interesting turn into a more southern inflection, especially during the chorus. After many critics called his last album "safe", RRH takes to turn his music in a 180 turn on this occasion.

Ryan Ross Hernandez, in his previous works, had proved himself in the rite of bluesy guitar player and sensitive singer-songwriter, now he wants his musicianship to coexist perfectly with his songwriting. The electric and acoustic guitars, the mercurial pedal steel, keys, honey-sweet harmonies packed underneath, and focused drum pattern melts into one another like they were meant to sound this way all along. That point becomes clear in the last 90 seconds where we get an extended instrumental outro, almost like if each of these musicians are on stage, each taking turns in the spotlight doing what they know best, before unselfishly passing it along to the other. It's only appropriate that the last one to take this metaphorical stage is RRH himself, giving us another effortlessly groovy laced guitar solo.

Lyrics

I'm on the road to redemption
Packing all my bags and moving out west
With a single guitar
And an arsenal of songs in my heart

I take pictures but I never frame them
What I see with my eyes will define me on my death bed
So I drive until I looked up in the sky
And saw a cowboy's cliche

'Cause if you wanna be free, gotta go it alone
And if you wanna go home, gotta build your own
'Cause you never will find what you're searching for
'Til you open the door to the sweet unknown
In the sweet unknown

Don't you ask me where I come from
I've buried who I was
Inside a hotel room somewhere in West Hollywood

I'm not ashamed of who I was
I'm just looking for the sun that comes
After the Gold Rush 'cross California

'Cause if you wanna be free, gotta go it alone
And if you wanna go home, gotta build your own
'Cause you never will find what you're searching for
'Til you open the door to the sweet unknown
In the sweet unknown

I drew my own Blood on the Tracks
But nothing changed
The idiot wind just kept on blowin'
As I saw my reflection on a glossy magazine
That ironically had my face on it too

I once met a woman who's favorite record was "Blue"
What she lacked in age, she made up in wisdom
So I long for honesty
While I drive through the sweet unknown

'Cause if you wanna be free, gotta go it alone
And if you wanna go home, gotta build your own
In the sweet unknown
Welcome to the sweet unknown

Ryan Ross Hernandez's Commentary

The Music

"California's Sweet Unknown, it opens the record because it has such an inviting feel to it. It kind of just lets the listener know, 'this is how it's gonna be, you never know what you're gonna get.' That this record is not about cutting things down to 3:20 or 3:50, whatever the radio deems acceptable to play it on a Top 20 or Top 40 mix. It's freeing to open with a song that sounds like a jam session, like a group of musicians just gather in studio and said, 'let's have fun with this.' Which is what did with this song. We purposely put two prominent instrumental moments in there. Everyone wanted to tell me to cut it to a certain number, but no one was able to give me a valid reason why I should. Everyone said this song had to be under 3:30 and I wonder what happens after 3:30, and no one knew. I have to thank Studio60 Records, I'm really proud to be a Studio60 artist because they actually agreed to have this be the second single. They know this song is not gonna sell to 5 million people, but they respect my view that only maybe 100,000 people on the radio will listen to this and it's okay. The song is just a little over 4 minutes, but I really want to see where radio stations will fade it out. I'm making it so hard for radio DJs because it has two jams in it without any vocals."

The Lyrics

"Lyrically, it opens the door to the rest of the record in a way, because this isn't an album filled with lofty metaphors like previous songs I've written. I wanted to be introspective in a straight-forward tone. This song is really about a road trip, leaving your troubled times behind and just going into the sweet unknown, which is basically some place you've never been at. It's parting with your past mistakes and embarrassments, any troubled time you've been through, and looking into the lifestyle you search for. I thought it was cool to have the first song you hear when you put on the record, has lyrical references to the three albums that really defined this new horizon for me. Neil Young's 'After the Gold Rush,' Joni's 'Blue,' Dylan's 'Blood on the Tracks.'"

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2. Keep Calm and Learn Yourself

Genre: Folk rock, Americana, Celtic rock
Length: 2:40
Writer: Ryan Ross Hernandez
Producer: Ryan Ross Hernandez, Chad Fairweather

Song Synopsis

What immediately hits the listener when track two, "Keep Calm and Learn Yourself", comes on, is that about after the short and simple tasty acoustic picking intro, toying with their ears to make them believe there is a soft acoustic ballad to come. At about thirteen seconds in it becomes a huge, crescendo anthemic Celtic signature song with the large percussion presence in the opening. Drummer Aaron Andrews uses a timpani at the beginning and during the booming chorus that follows it. Compared to the slow burning opener, this song is a stark contrast. Track two sounds big, bigger than mostly anything else you could find on a previous RRH record, and that is largely attributed to the percussion found here.

While it may sound as a orchestral gusher, the song was created solely by Hernandez and the core band who helped him create this sound. In the case of "Keep Calm and Learn Yourself", it being a traditional Irish sound. It is a highly melodic song, with a triumphant sound, yet Ryan's voice makes it all sound so soothing to the listener. There is no sweet talk or pop crooning found here, sounding more so as though he's speaking right at the listener. Ryan's singing purposely puts pressure on certain words to match the drum rhythm, almost as if he wants highlight certain words and phrases.

Another rarity that will catch the ear of long time RRH fans, is that there is absolutely no electric guitars to be found during this two minute and forty second song. Ryan keeps to his acoustic guitar, without a need for his playing to sound earnest or rushed. The song is filled with vocal harmonies in the background throughout it. Instead of the song closing off with a guitar solo, we get a gentle organ solo, where all other instruments and Ryan's vocals disappear. The last 15 seconds of the song are dedicated fully to Charlie Lowell's organ playing, slowly fading away.

Lyrics

The winter wind has come and gone again
So you can finally reopen your eyes
This isn't you in the mirror
Rather a clone of who you are

The circle of your closes
Are rebuilding your heart from the ground
No matter how old we grow
Your innocence will always be close
So sleep wherever they'll have you

And life just keeps on moving at the speed it does
Even as these times continue to bring us worry
And life throws us to the ground some days
But every wrong has its silver lining

It's not wrong to spend sometime alone
Or like the peace loneliness brings
Keep your dreams 'cause there's not much to believe in these days
To learn yourself you gotta learn somebody else

Love someone for a while then change your mind
You're allowed to give and take away your love
'Cause we've all been there before
And somehow our hearts are still beating

And life just keeps on moving at the speed it does
Even as these times continue to bring us worry
And life throws us to the ground some days
But every wrong has its silver lining

These times continue to bring us worries
And life throws us to the ground
But every wrong has its silver lining

Ryan Ross Hernandez's Commentary

The Music

"'Keep Calm and Learn Yourself', this song was the second song written with this album in mind, back in November 2010. This song went through a lot of phases musically, I remember the demo was entirely acoustic with a small section of percussion in it. Until probably last summer, the song was just that but when I went back and revisited it, I really loved that opening acoustic intro, I really did. I have a pretty good ear so I noticed this maybe not even second long pause between the intro and the first verse, so I felt we had to do something there. That's when the timpani came in, I have no idea where it came from but Aaron Andrews, the drummer for fourteen tracks on this album, he brought them and was just toying around them. So I suggested to my co-producer, 'why not include those?' And from there it wasn't a simple acoustic number anymore, it turned into this really almost Celtic rock song, which I've never done, I don't think I've ever even heard a song from that style of music. Yet it worked for this song and I don't think I can see myself ever performing it acoustically now because that booming sound makes this song."

The Lyrics

"I've been able to have this song written for a good year before I recorded, and it made it more special that way because I could fickle around with it. Aside from the chorus, changing a line or two there, the rest of the song remained intact since I wrote it in late 2010. It's the most hopeful song I've ever written. Every verse means something to be personally, and a lot of the record is in first person, but this song needed to be in third person so people could connect to it easily. I think everyone at some point, will need to lose themselves, before they find themselves. You will be burned and burn others as life progresses. I like to think that life goes in circles and everything passes, even the times when life brings you down. It's just a moment in life and this song basically says, 'we will get past this.'"

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4. Show Me Something I Can Be

Genre: Folk rock
Length: 3:42
Writer: Ryan Ross Hernandez
Producer: Ryan Ross Hernandez, Chad Fairweather

Song Synopsis

Ryan's sonic tour turns towards California. and Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham here, with a rolling guitar picking figure and a gentle but lively mood, flurry with tricky notes. The acoustic guitar opened the tune (and are repeated much throughout the song) sound old, older than the prior tunes on this album. Songs like California's Sweet Unknown and Keep Calm and Learn Yourself sounded older, but not as old as this track. The song is very 70's folk, very Bob Dylan like. It is the second track on the record that has no electric guitars.

The vocals sound really crisp and clear, with Hernandez providing vocal harmonies for himself. There is a noticeable amount of falsetto in this song and it sounds just as well as when he used it on his previous blues-pop hits of yesteryear. He criticizes the media and the modern musical landscape on the easy going track. The drums in this song are very subtle and fit in nicely in the background. If one were hearing this song without knowing anything about Ryan Ross Hernandez, you'd believe he was a folk/country artist of the past.

Lyrics

Now MTV doesn't even stand for Music Television anymore
And Rolling Stone is giving out their cover stories to reality stars
And the radio is playing a party mix
At a quarter to eight on a Tuesday morning

Ain't it disheartening to know
Music meant so much forty years ago

The radio and the television are turned on
All they give out is manipulated voices and sounds
You should be just as sad as am I
Changing times mean less heart put in the things we do

Ain't it disheartening to know
The soul is nowhere to be found

My bookcases are filled with vinyl records
I predict I'll lose faith in a whole new generation
One where the kids just want to become the talentless famous
Where have the ones who create before profiting gone?

Ain't it disheartening to know
We're running out of heroes for our kids

I still have a ringing in my fingertips
To try and make something real for once
I still believe in some of us
Wisdom comes with age, so let's all grow old

Little voices playing on the radio
Little voices playing on the radio
Little voices playing on the TV screen
Little voices playing on the TV screen
Little voices making noise on the internet
Little voices making noise on the internet
Little voices, little voices, little voices
Little voices, little voices, little voices
Little voices, little voices, little voices
Little voices, little voices, little voices

Ryan Ross Hernandez's Commentary

The Music

"Show Me Something I Can Be. That song sounds exactly like it did on the first take we did of it. From the start my goal for this song was to not fuck it up. There are other places in the album where I can layer a whole bunch of instruments, where I can toy with my guitar playing. This song was not made for that. This song had it all timely placed, so it just sounded like it wasn't meant to be from this time. It did though because the lyrics are current, but every sound you hear is all from the 70's. If there is one song on the album that is really an ode to how singer-songwriters made songs back then. If I'm singing about something that I believe in, because I do, I believe that times have changed. I should at least incorporate a sound that may just ignite the person to further explore music that's not from there time. If you're eighteen or nineteen years old, odds are you haven't been exposed this kind of music, but you might know my music. So I'm fine being a leeway to someone wanting to listen to Dylan or Young because of me."

The Lyrics

"It's difficult for me to explain this song, or why I wrote this song. I have to speak in a matter that doesn't sound like I'm trying to offend anyone, that's not why I made this song. If you do research it's very easy to see that with each decade, on a music standpoint, things change. Up to you to decide if it's for better or worse. In my opinion music is going back, has to go back, to a much more organic, natural. It has to go back to that space. The circle has to come around again. Where we go back to lyrics and chords. People misinterpret simplicity as being dumb, but it's not. Artful simplicity is beautiful work. I'm not knocking anyone who has a song on the radio right now that's filled with drum machines and synths and all that stuff. After this year you can probably tell me you're making more money than me and I'll say, 'you're damn right.' It doesn't matter what type of music you make, everyone who's in this industry has to accept the fact that things aren't the same anymore. In the way we make music, in the way people receive it. It's all changed. This song isn't about saying being mad about it, but just accepting it how it is, and learning to live with it."

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5. Christian Girl Getting Divorced

Genre: Blues rock, Americana, soul
Length: 3:00
Writer: Ryan Ross Hernandez
Producer: Ryan Ross Hernandez, Chad Fairweather

Song Synopsis

As the title may imply, Christian Girl Getting Divorced, is one of the record's rare light-hearted moments. For those that prefer Hernandez's distinct blues sound, this is his bluesiest song yet, chock-full of great licks. The opening of this song with the sole electric guitar immediately sets a breezy rhythmic spunk and a pep in its step. While the sound is clearly different from the rest of the album, it still has its minimal '70s Americana sound providing a sunny backdrop. Hernandez uses a hint of church organs, provided by Charlie Lowell's, in the background to add to the soul component in this track.

Jim Urban's drumming lends this track a grittier groove pattern, but it's still smooth, loose and colorful. The electric guitar tone that Ryan uses on this song is different to most of the other tracks. It's evident in the thoughtful solo that comes a little after the minute mark, where you can hear Ryan starting the song in one tone then drastically turning it up. Similar to the opening track on this the record, this tune towards the end of it, sounds like a jam that could just go on forever. Between repeating the words, "Christian Girl" providing his own backup vocals, and singing in spaced bouts of emphasis, the track could really pass for a church hymn.

In this song, Hernandez sounds like he's longing for someone like the girl of his dreams — who just so happens to be a recently divorcee Christian girl. With one little pronoun shift offers a glimpse into his proverbial soul. It's simple, fun, and bluesy. Or it may have some underlying deep sadness that is nicely covered up.

Lyrics

Well a Christian girl be getting divorced
That's what a girl gets for marrying young
Now her parents always disapprove
Just like they did when she showed them the ring
Yeah you love 'em, but you can never win with 'em

I think a good Christian girl
With liberal religious values
Is what I need in my life

She was born and bred in Santa Barbara
Always been a California girl under the sun
Now she's living her dreams aloud
She's got a whole generation to live for
And she thank Jesus for all that comes her way

I think a good Christian girl
Who can still wear a gold cross while making love to me
Is what I need in my life

Now, I know your bible disapproves of
Extramarital affairs
And I ain't one to offend your values
But now that she's a divorcee
I think we should meet up for drinks, someday
Honey, what do you drink?

'Cause I still have a fantasy
Of when the Christian girl herself
Shows up at my door, with no wedding ring in sight
Wearing the kind of dress she can't wear to church
And I let her in

A Christian girl
A Christian girl who has a bible in her bedside table
(A Christian girl)
A Christian girl
A Christian girl who prays whenever she need be
(A Christian girl)
A Christian girl who loves her Mama and Papa
(A Christian girl)
A Christian girl who remembers where she came from
(A Christian girl)

Now, now, now
That's the kind of girl I need to find
Something like a Christian girl
Something like a
(Yeah, yeah, I need someone like her)
I keep singing something like a Christian girl
I keep thinking something like a California Christian girl
Is what I need in my bed to relieve the stresses of my own skin

Ryan Ross Hernandez's Commentary

The Music

"This was a fun track to record, really fun. I can only imagine how fun it will be when we take this song on the road and can really fool around with it. It was recorded probably a year before the album's release date, and when we had that first take, we didn't touch it. We knew we couldn't recreate that feeling on a musical level, especially the jams you can hear in the background, be it from the guitars or the drums or even the electric organ. I remember I told Charlie Lowell, who played most of the keys on this record, I told him, 'let's take them to church!' On the demo you would have probably been able to hear me saying that. It carries a very easy, loose feel to it, I don't think anything about it is forced or misplaced. It's definitely the song that kind of, its style, pays ode to past records in a way. While at the same time, remaining true to the sound trying to be achieved with this record as a whole."

The Lyrics

"I wrote 'Christian Girl Getting Divorced', on Christmas Eve 2010. I was single at the time, and I ran an experiment with myself where I spent the holidays that year completely alone. That's why I can't quite figure out what mood this song gives me, obviously on the record it sounds very upbeat and bluesy, but when I wrote it, it wasn't meant that way. So I won't talk much about the inspiration because I want this song to serve as a break in the clouds for listener, before the atmosphere gets dark again. I've gotten questions about this song; is it about a crush? Maybe unrequited love? Or just a fun track to write? It can mean different things when you hear it, and I'm not going to under mind that by going into detail on the lyrics. Let your minds roam and wonder."

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