Bret Ryan

From the opening notes of Bret Ryan's summery first single, "If It Feels Right," which demands you tap a foot to its instantly catchy, spunky rhythm, you'll know this 21-year-old singer-songwriter isn't your average pop artist. His hazardously hooky songs are as infectious as they are original -- and he's sure to turn your ear when his self-titled debut album arrives August 26. Recounting feelings of summertime love with playful candor, "If It Feels Right" hits all the right notes with young lovers and their playful affections. It's a song that came naturally to Ryan, who admits his heart has been turned inside out by the fairer sex. "I don't know if I fall in love easily, but sometimes a girl will walk by and I'll just melt and think 'That's the girl I'm going to marry,' knowing full well I'll probably never speak to her or see her again," Ryan laughs. As always, the track takes a slight departure from pop norms, something key to Ryan's songwriting. "The song is a really cool, up-tempo, fun summer song with an alternative vibe," Ryan says about the breakout single. "I'm interested in quirk -- I like a little bit of that in everything. I'm not into your typical pop records." Making pop with a twist is something that comes natural to Ryan, who describes himself as somewhat of a perennial outcast. From the age of three, this talented young prodigy found himself making fast friends with the piano, and later the guitar, along with a host of other musical confidants. While his bond with melody and songwriting enveloped him throughout his teenage years, he found himself drifting away from his friends and the typical diversions of adolescence. "When I was younger, my friends were always hanging out, playing basketball or hockey, but I just always wanted to play music," he explains. "That kind of separated me from everybody else. It made me different. A lot of teenagers feel that they are outcasts and there are a lot of peer pressures that students face in society to conform. But in the end, we're all beautiful even if we're different." It was these early emotions that led Ryan to write the sweeping album-opener, fittingly titled "The Outcast." The song's thunderously bold piano and commanding orchestration introduce Ryan's peerless musical style and unique falsetto voice, which demands listeners realize it's "different not to be the same" but that's a gift, not a curse. For this record Ryan enlisted the help of some musical heavyweight friends, including David Campbell (My Chemical Romance, Avril Lavigne), who arranged its spectacular strings, Grammy winning mixer Chris Lord-Alge (Sum 41, Green Day) and Toronto producer Justin Gray (Emma Bunton, Joss Stone). The powerhouse cast helped Ryan hone his penchant for atypical pop, which takes listeners on an unexpected rollercoaster ride through the album from start to finish. "I'm more into the alternative side of pop, which makes it a little more interesting," Ryan notes. "I've always been a big fan of diversity, too. A lot of times, records come out and all the songs are kind of the same. Mine are all so different, but they tie together." Case in point "Future Psycho Ex-Girlfriend," a clamoring, up-tempo stereo-slammer that relates Ryan's real-life experience with twisted first love. "I had a future psycho ex-girlfriend who is now my psycho ex-girlfriend. I actually wrote that song while I was dating her," Ryan says. When it comes to matters of the heart, Ryan admits he's "a big, sappy guy" who can't help himself when it comes to love songs. The tender ballad "She's Beautiful" recounts the impossible perfection he saw in a girl, whose incredible natural beauty melted his heart, despite the fact his feelings were eventually unrequited. But the album isn't all love and sunshine. Ryan also shows a few cathartic glimpses of darkness. Most poignantly on "Crawling Inside Myself," a song written during what he calls one of the darkest points of his life. With two tragic deaths in the family haunting him, Ryan found himself alone one day in the recording studio on an anniversary of tragedy and turned to songwriting for release. "I had this dark feeling come over me," he recalls. "I just sat there and felt like I was crawling inside myself. I envisioned this picture of me crawling inside myself, another version of me, crawling into my stomach, loosing my mind. I wasn't able to deal with things. The song is a bunch of dark thoughts. Writing it helped me get through a lot of the pain." Undeniably diverse and unique, Ryan's debut release is sure to provide a refuge for any outcast, whether dealing with loss, love or longing. It might not sound like the rest of the syrupy pop spilling out of the radio, but ever the outsider, that's what Ryan's most proud about. "I'm glad I don't have one of those clich, pop voices," he says of his signature sound. "I've never even come close to pretending to be something I'm not, even if I am a bit unconventional. I hope this record helps kids see the good in their differences, too."