Havergal is a young man named Ryan Murphy from Bedford, Texas -- an architect by day, a somewhat manic-depressive singer-songwriter by night (and founder of Western Vinyl Records). Tinny guitars, lo-fi loops and samples, mechanical drum beats, and painfully direct, honest songwriting comprise his music. Murphy's quirky, sometimes almost bouncy pop compositions provide an ironic counterpoint to his verge-of-tears vocal style and bleeding heart lyrics. And bleeding heart is a bit of an understatement on some of these numbers; Murphy's crooned topics range from the bitterness of unrequited love to the sickening hollowness of personal failure to the anguish of disenfranchisement from society. It could be a too bitter pill to swallow, were it not for the endearing quirkiness of Havergal's songs and the feeling you've been there so many times yourself. Read more on Last.fm.