Hello Starling doesn’t have the alt. country grit and edge of his debut Golden Age of Radio, nor does it have the despondency of Drake, to whom he is often likened. However, it does have all sorts of nice stuff. He goes for and largely finds a mild, organic, rootsy rock sound. Ritter has a distinctive, gentle voice – like Jimmy Dale Gilmore (minus five levels of nasalocity) – it is very calming. He manages to hold this gentle roots folk sound without sounding anything like James Taylor or any other kind of adult contemporary artists. It has an indi rock edge to it. The overall impression is a little slick, the result of over-producing – but it never loses its center of solid songwriting.
- Matt M.

Play this song*
1. Mid-tempo – gentle number – nice hook.
2. *Mild-Rocker – an organ – with rootsy, dreamy grandeur.
3. ** Up-tempo – This song is so fucking good that it gets two little stars. It is an acoustic guitar Dylanesque walking rant about loving a women. I wish he did more of this.
4. Up-tempo – full band sound with prominent organ.
5. Slow – dragging rhythm – lamentish –
6. Down-tempo – acoustic plucking – showcases his smooth lyrics – very pretty – if you are a little leery about songs with angels in them, like myself, the last line will ruin this song.
7. Down-tempo – acoustic plucking tune – again, very pretty - glamorizes California. The gentle steel guitar is super.
8. Steady Rocker – rock song – fast acoustic guitar rhythm. Sort of a driving song.
9. Down-tempo – another quiet plucking acoustic number.
10. * Down-tempo, builds - Somber melancholy. Has more sonic weight than most of the album. Good baseline. Some excellent crescendoing.
11. Mid-tempo – builds at the end – a little electric guitar for the first time on the album – we get other noises too, like strings – it walks a good line between noise and melody.