“I didn’t do this record the rock’n’roll boy way…it’s my own sound,” says Kelley Ryan.

Note the emphasis there on the word “boy.” Kelley Ryan, the front-woman for the California band astroPuppees and a go-to songwriter and collaborator (most recently on Marshall Crenshaw’s Jaggedland), took a decidedly different approach to recording her first record under her own name. Twist is an album told from the female perspective; a theme encompassing everything from the lyrics to the instruments to the album’s many moods.

“I had this idea: the record was only going to be about girls, be it the daughter I never had, a heroine of my mine, my grandmother or a woman who lived near me in Ireland,” says Kelley. “It’s all from the feminine perspective. Even in the music – there’s no electric guitars, it’s just acoustic and loops and strings. I mean, I love three-minute electric-guitar pop songs, but I wanted to create something more comfortable for me and stay in that mood.”

But don’t get the wrong idea – Twist isn’t a polarizing record, a long lost Lilith Fair soundtrack or an angry feminine response a la Exile in Guyville. It’s a gutsy record with ambitious production, smart collaborations (with the likes of producer Don Dixon (R.E.M., Smithereens), legendary arranger Van Dyke Parks and singer/songwriter Marti Jones), and a personal touch and warmth that crosses all musical boundaries.

Ryan originally approached the new album as another astroPuppees record, her long-time, free form collaborative project that’s released four albums of critically acclaimed pop. But during the recording process, something changed. “Don Dixon was like, ‘this is your record’. And he was right. For the first time, I wrote all the words, and everything I say on this record is totally from the heart. So it made more sense for it to have my name on it.”

If you would like to win a copy of this new CD, just answer this easy question: Indeed, the album’s most interesting “twist” could well be the cover song ... but who's is it and what year was the song originally released?!

Send us your answers and if you're correct you'll be in the running to win one of these new CDs! Just send us an e:mail here before February 15th with your answer and the subject title CONTEST: KELLEY RYAN CDs to: exclusivemagazine@flash.net

CD Purchase Link

“About A Girl" - Audio Link