The Water's Edge

Two years in the making, Luke Ritchie finally releases his debut album The Water's Edge.

After the collapse of a record deal in autumn 2009, Ritchie embarked on a personal challenge to continue doing what he enjoyed best. Recording a song a week, he released each one as a podcast for six months which were spread around through word of mouth, resulting in 8,500 downloads by the time he stopped.

The podcasts reached Leo Warner of Fifty-Nine Productions, who had just been working with Jonsi of Sigur Ros for his solo album. Through Warner, Ritchie was put in touch with composer Nico Muhly, who had composed arrangements for Jonsi's debut Go. Nico composed pieces for five songs on the album, including opener "Lighthouse," and played the piano and harmonium himself. The arrangements have taken The Water's Edge to another level, effortlessly building on Ritchie's original works to create wonderfully rich melodies.

This is reinforced even more so by the beautiful backing vocals from Nia Lynn (jazz vocalist of the year nominee 2010, Gwilym Simcock) in tracks "Lighthouse," "Shanty," and "Butterfly."

Ritchie finished recording The Water's Edge with winner of the Breakthrough Producer 2010 award, Paul Savage (Arab Strap, Mogwai), at Chem 19 Studios in Glasgow. The pair began working together after the legendary producer was impressed with the songwriter's demos, and he has played a pivotal role in the album's production.

Keep your eyes and ears open and make sure you take a listen to Luke Ritchie, as his exciting new journey is well and truly just beginning. He also plays with several artists including Hannah Peel (who has just released her debut The Broken Wave on Static Caravan), as well as being a member of the Golden Retrievers, who are due to record their debut album later this year.