Ryan Kinder Isn’t Quite Over It in New Song ‘Tangled Up’ [Exclusive Premiere]
Ryan Kinder's new song "Tangled Up" reflects a key, if hard-to-handle, truth about relationships: They're not easy to leave when they're over, even when it's for the best. The new song is premiering exclusively on The Boot; press play below to listen.
Kinder reaches to a falsetto over a blues-influenced groove as he sings about how "hearts get tangled up" and how it's difficult to "pull 'em apart" if things end. "Everything is different / Who I am now isn't / Who I was before I met you," he notes in the second verse, driving the point home.
"The song in general is about two people trying to cope with the wreckage of a past relationship," Kinder explains. "It’s coming to terms with the realization that when you’re that close to someone for so long, it becomes increasingly hard to separate all the things that the two of you brought together. You come to terms with the fact that a part of you will always still love that person."
"Tangled Up" was born, Kinder recalls, when Fred Wilhelm tossed out that "hearts get tangled up" line during a writing session that also included Luke Sheets. When Kinder began noodling on a "John Mayer-y riff," things started coming together.
"Tangled Up" is one of 10 songs on Kinder's forthcoming debut album, Room to Dream. The singer-songwriter began making frequent trips to Nashville while in college in Tuscaloosa, Ala.: He'd attended classes Tuesday-Thursday; play gigs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights; and then spend a quick two days in Nashville on Sundays and Mondays, writing with producer Keith Stegall and others.
Kinder was briefly signed to a couple different record labels, but a 2018 tour with classic rockers ZZ Top and John Fogerty proved to be the real turning point in his career.
In addition to his music career, Kinder is training for the 2021 Ironman World Championship, in which he's participating in honor of a friend who died of cancer. He is also the founder of Kinder's Kids, which delivers toys to children affected by national disasters.
"Tangled Up" will be available widely on Friday (June 18), while Room to Dream is due out on July 30. It's available to pre-order and pre-save now.