Hello Sunshine, My Old Friend...

Seems as though I can't think for myself lately, or at least can't come up with anything original. So here's another news-worthy snippet courtesy of some other website.

Word from Pitchfork (once again) is that Akashic Books has yet another work from Ryan Adams in its final production stages. Hello Sunshine will be Ryan's second literary work - following Infinity Blues - a collection of short, dark poems.

So just as Ryan can release albums with his hands tied behind his back, it seems he can also type with his feet. The announcement of his second book comes more than a month prior to the official release of his first. The first batch of Infinity Blues was shipped out before Christmas, but the collection will hit bookshelves in April. I'm about halfway through my copy, and I can tell you one thing: poetry is not my bag, baby. The pieces are always interesting, but I just can't seem to follow them. The book initially received great reviews from some power names (Steven King, Cameron Crowe, Eileen Myles), so that just proves I should not review literary works.

The new one is listed as a mix of "poems and short fiction from Ryan Adams."

The publisher goes on to say "with the release of Hello Sunshine, Ryan Adams breaks literary ground far beyond what he accomplished with his critically acclaimed first book. Where his debut was characterized by the bitterness of heartbreak, Hello Sunshine is a graceful, sensual assertion of the other side of the emotional coin. This is a 2009 fever dream--inside Ryan's heart and mind--replete with unforgettable verse that will shock and delight those expecting a mere continuation of where Infinity Blues left off."

Ryan, as ever, claims his newest effort to be his "best work yet."

Read more, including some comments from Ryan himself here.
Check the page again on May 15th for ordering information.

This news has got me wanting to get back into the first one so I can make a better judgment regarding it. I stopped reading it when I ordered a copy of the (so far) only biography written on Ryan - Michael Heatley's aptly titled Ryan Adams (2003). The bio was short and sweet, offering lots of quotes and inside-the-studio intel. But the premature effort stops just short of the good stuff. It abruptly ends after the release of Demolition with the hanger being the question of what is next for Ryan, to which the only answer Heatley has is I don't know. The life of this prolific songsmith will no doubt spawn many better efforts further down the line.