Ryan Adams shared a visualizer for his song “It’s So Quiet, It’s Loud,” which was released on June 11 along with the rest of his latest album, Big Colors. The album was originally supposed to be one of three albums that Adams would’ve released in 2019, but was shelved due to unresolved misconduct allegations.
“The light shines down from the windows of your house/The rain passes lightly,” Adams opens the song. The lyrics tell the story of a peaceful moment in time with a significant other, with Adams repeating the title of the track for its chorus. Acoustic guitar jangles idly through the verses and crashes through the choruses, with a string riff closing the recording following a shimmering climax.
The visualizer shows a cat sitting in the center of a kaleidoscopic green screen rug, with bright patterns swirling around underneath it. A spinning box appears halfway through the video that the cat has some more fun hiding in and playing with.
Adams had been accused of using his star status to allegedly exploit young female musicians in 2019. The New York Times reported that seven women including Phoebe Bridgers and his ex-wife Mandy Moore allegedly “described a pattern of manipulative behavior in which Adams dangled career opportunities while simultaneously pursuing female artists for sex.”
One of the accusers was a woman named Ava, who reportedly met Adams when she was 14 years old and aspiring to become a professional bass player. She claims that the two of them avoided confirming whether or not she was a minor, adding that Adams had reportedly asked her about her age and that she reportedly told him that she was older.
Adams responded to the allegations with a statement, “I am not a perfect man and I have made many mistakes. To anyone I have ever hurt, however unintentionally, I apologize deeply and unreservedly. But the picture that this article paints is upsettingly inaccurate. Some of its details are misrepresented; some are exaggerated; some are outright false. I would never have inappropriate interactions with someone I thought was underage. Period.”
Big Colors followed up his late 2020 album Wednesdays, which was released in December for little fanfare, whether due to or in spite of the allegations. It was originally supposed to be the second of the albums planned for 2019 release.