Leave Me Out To Dry

With a new album set for release later this year, Riley Catherall has given us a taste of what's to come with the release of his brand new single 'Leave Me Out To Dry' and its accompanying video. It's his first release since 2019's 'Pray That I Won't Be Long', which spent eight weeks in The Music Network's Country Top 50 Airplay Charts. The track was also added on full rotation to the ABC Local Radio Network + ABC Country and was described as having "the power of a tight structure and melodies that float on by on a warm breeze."

Though 'Pray That I Won't Be Long' was Catherall's last release chronologically, 'Leave Me Out To Dry' follows 2018's 'Watered Down Man' thematically. "It acts as a sort of sequel to 'Watered Down Man'," says Catherall, "which encapsulated a version of myself notoriously stumbling my way through Melbourne's streets heralding a warning not to get too close. It's a bit of a mantra for myself to ensure I'm not slipping back into the same state."

The track was recorded with Damian Cafarella at EOR Studios in Victoria and features a simple, touching arrangement that allows Catherall's yearning vocals to really shine. He sings, "Out of my mind, fallen by the wayside, kiss me on my good side then leave me out to dry" and one gets the sense of both a plea for help and acquiescence of the seemingly hopeless situation. 

The video for 'Leave Me Out To Dry' was filmed by Tyler Ridgeway, from Shoelace Creative, and edited by Ryan Hillam, who is also Catherall's guitarist. "He [Ryan] has this beautiful rundown backyard in Brunswick fit with an oversized hills hoist, a lemon tree and the usual hoarder junk that I thought would make the perfect backdrop for the video," says Catherall. "It also seemed fitting as the song is set around that end of Melbourne and we wanted to replicate the scene of 'drying-up' the morning after."

'Leave Me Out To Dry' sees Catherall continue his tradition of emotional storytelling and powerful vocals. He has this incredible ability to know whether the music or the vocals need to deliver a punch to the gut and it's no wonder that Ear to the Ground Music complimented his "poetic Americana lyricism", saying that he "reminds me of an American icon in Jason Isbell and it's not every day that I can make that kind of comparison."

The comparisons, however, continue to come.  And if Catherall's album delivers the quality that 'Leave Me Out To Dry' displays, it's a safe bet that listeners will be feeling everything but being left out to dry.