Connor Riesen‘s latest Beginnings release is less about arriving at a definitive sound than demonstrating how much ground he can cover without standing still. The third three-track volume in the series finds the Orlando producer taking a more active role in nearly every part of the recording, from guitars and vocals to production and songwriting.
The most telling change is Riesen’s decision to teach himself guitar by ear specifically for the project. He plays both acoustic and electric guitar across the release, adding a new physical dimension to music that has previously grown out of his relationship with piano, digital production, jazz, and composition. It is an unorthodox way to expand an artistic vocabulary, but one that suits an artist whose career has been shaped by teaching himself rather than following a conventional route.
Riesen also sings on two of the three tracks, bringing his own voice further into a catalog that has often relied on collaborations with other vocalists. That decision gives Beginnings, Vol. 3 a more personal center. His vocals are not simply another texture in the arrangement. They underline the sense that this is an artist becoming increasingly willing to put his own fingerprints on the finished work.
The EP’s three-song format helps keep that experimentation contained, though it also leaves little room for every idea to fully develop. Some of its appeal comes from hearing Riesen test new capabilities rather than presenting them as perfected techniques. There is a slight roughness to that process, but it feels more valuable than the kind of polish that can flatten an artist’s personality.
Placed alongside Beginnings, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, as well as his jazz-oriented Stories and piano-focused Sabbath in C, the new release reinforces a pattern in Riesen’s work: curiosity is becoming part of his artistic identity. He keeps changing the tools without abandoning the instinct to explore.
Beginnings, Vol. 3 matters because Riesen is no longer simply producing music within his abilities. He is deliberately expanding those abilities and making the expansion part of the art. For an independent artist, that kind of creative restlessness may ultimately prove more significant than any single genre label.
Featured Image: Artist Supplied
