RÜFÜS DU SOL SHARE NEW SINGLE NEXT TO ME ALONGSIDE ARTIFICIALLY INTELLIGENT OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO DIRECTED BY OSK
Today, Grammy-nominated live-electronic trio RÜFÜS DU SOL have released their latest single on Rose Avenue and Reprise / Warner Records, Next To Me. The track adds a new chapter to the band’s career-long straddling of the dualities of light and dark, loss and love.
Next To Me portrays a sense of maturity and adoration on a level not felt before from the band. At its core it is a song of devotion, of caring compassion, an affair of the heart not undercut by the pressures of stardom or toils of young love. It’s a point of departure from the haunting emotive rollercoaster of recent single Alive, and a more positive lyrical take on the foundation set by the similarly anthemic Treat You Better off the 2018 Grammy-nominated SOLACE LP.
Tyrone sings in the chorus, “…and when time runs out, I want to feel you standing next to me”.
In Jon George’s words, “There were a lot more yearning lyrics being put down when we were writing the track, but we felt it didn’t need any of the darkness that you hear on a lot of our other records. We wanted to create something more positive and happy, a kind of homage to the feel-good soul of classic house music. I am sure there is part of this that reflects a feeling in our lives and relationships. We wanted to share that with this track.”
Tyrone echos, “We decided we wanted this to be a simple love song, which is rare of us to do, to create something purely sweet without juxtaposing that with the raw, dark emotions on the other side”
Next To Me was spawned from a pandemic recording trip in Joshua Tree and refined six months later in RÜFÜS DU SOL’s Los Angeles studio. A true tale of the songwriting process and the value of simplicity, the vocal melody and piano lead originally captured in the desert remain the beating heart of the record. The track offers a clear hook fused with progressive electronic sonics, a furthering of the band’s ability to produce with one foot in mass appeal and the other in the dance music underground.
James Hunt adds, “We tried adding things to make it ‘better’ and kept returning to the feeling we experienced when we first wrote the song that day in the desert. It’s a good example of the thing that came out on the day we wrote it being the most pure and authentic version of what we were trying to create.”
The band has tapped futuristic directors Osk to create a self-initiated, artificially intelligent visual work to accompany Next To Me. Known for collaborations with Kanye West, NASA, John Coltrane (estate), and Google, Osk has combined the power of A.I. with RÜFÜS DU SOL’s obsession with audio-visual world-building to immerse viewers into new complex landscapes. The official video sees A.I.-generated topographies unfurl and unfold into morphing images that defy reality, seamlessly flowing from mountain tops and valleys to city scapes and highways. This technological connection between the natural and manmade worlds reflects the sonic palette this band has spent the last decade refining.
Osk comments, “We don’t see A.I. as a tool but as a collaborator – one we are in a constant conversation with as we develop new possibilities for its expression and our own. New perspectives are always valuable, and although much of the way A.I. operates is modeled on or inspired by us, it has a fundamentally different way of understanding that can reveal new approaches or perspectives we may not have seen. Merging artificial intelligence with the existing languages of film, art, music and human expression expands our notions of them all.”
RÜFÜS DU SOL have already experienced an immense demand for their live return, selling 70,000 tickets in three days for their largest headlining shows to date at Los Angeles Banc of California Stadium. The onsale was a true barometer for just how deeply fans crave the sonic escapism RÜFÜS DU SOL work to deliver at every show. This banner moment joins two sold out nights at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in August, and a bevy of headlining festival appearances already announced including Governors Ball, Austin City Limits, III Points and more.
Next To Me is released today.
GOLDING ANNOUNCE NEW SINGLE & VIDEO BOXING UNDERWATER FEAT. CAILIN RUSSO
Indie electronic stunners Golding have today announced their neoteric new single Boxing Underwater, a meandering, expressive track that ponders – will the magnetic force that drew two people together still exist when those people are sober? Co-written with beloved pop songwriter Jarryd James and featuring the breathtakingly understated vocals of Cailin Russo, Boxing Underwater is out today.
Boxing Underwater is evocative of indie-electro-pop influences such as RÜFÜS DU SOL, Running Touch, and Chet Faker, yet Golding continues to carve a unique path for themselves through their intricate, hooky vocal melodies, modern, sharp production, and clever lyrical turns that keep the listener guessing. Boxing Underwater is particularly special, co-written alongside global superstar and master melodist Jarryd James, as lead singer Jay from Golding explains, “Jarryd has always been a huge inspiration and someone I’ve looked up to as an artist. He’s always encouraged me to explore my musical freedoms and demonstrated the idea of ‘you can do anything’, there’s no rules in songwriting. To finally be creating in a room with him was a special moment for me.”
Working alongside LA artist Cailin Russo was another snappy opportunity for Golding – and she is a perfect choice for this track, as her voice floats delicately amongst the hypnotic electronic bed of instruments. Reflecting on their time working together, Jay remarks, “We didn’t realise that the song could grow even more until Cailin came on to feature. I’ve been a fan of Cailin’s music for years and have always had her in the back of my mind as someone I’d like to work with. Her vocals really helped set the tone and the mood of the song, all the pieces fell into place.”
The mood of the track is wistful, even a little melancholy, but undeniably beautiful. There’s room for the listener’s interpretation, yet another alluring charm – the audience will interpret each word and each textural movement differently, as Jay explains, “I love how creatively vague the lyrics are. I really want people to find their own meaning within the track and hope the lyrics can speak to people in their own way. Boxing Underwater is a melodic expression that evokes emotion through the sonics of the track, allowing listeners to create their own sub-narrative and imagery in their minds.”
Filmed and directed by Nicholas Stevens (Havana Brown, Manu Crooks, Onefour) at Fastback Studios, the video for Boxing Underwater is engaging and beautifully shot, taking on a life of its own, as Matt explains, “It was really important to us to show varying sides of relationships, not just the good but the bad too. We wanted to capture the emotion of a real relationship so we were lucky enough to have real-life couple Mikalah and Zohar star in the clip, you can truly feel the love and chemistry between them as you watch the video unfold.”
After the success of their recent collaboration with Boo Seeka on Don’t Waste Your Love and previous single Alone. Together now on its way to notching up 2 million streams on Spotify alone (and spawning that ultracool Touch Sensitive remix), it’s a thrill to see this electrifying duo back again so soon, and with such a strong offering. This really is just a taste of what is to come from Golding.
Boxing Underwater feat. Cailin Russo is out today.
Golding is Jay Bainbridge and Matt Bartlem.
“‘Boxing Underwater’ sees the pair – comprising Jay Bainbridge and Matt Bartlem – working with US artist Cailin Russo to create the uplifting, melodic single which sees razor sharp production, slick musicianship, and clever lyrical turns coming together to create an impressive pop tune” Rolling Stone AU
RÜFÜS DU SOL RETURN WITH NEW SINGLE ALIVE
RÜFÜS DU SOL have been quiet. Quietly looking inwards, quietly crafting a new world to explore with their fans, quietly relearning what it means to be Alive…
Today the band continues its legacy as global leaders of the live-electronic movement, releasing the first new music since their Grammy nominated 2018 SOLACE album. Alive, out now on Rose Avenue and Reprise / Warner Records, is a transcendent take from a group that have built a career on defying expectations.
Listen to ‘Alive’ by RÜFÜS DU SOL: https://rufusdusol.lnk.to/alive
Premiered today on The Zane Lowe Show, Alive is adorned with haunting lyricism and inventive broken beat percussion, encapsulating the highs and lows of a lost but not forgotten year. RÜFÜS DU SOL’s lead singer Tyrone calls out with a sense of urgent and naked emotion, these are intensely personal lyrics for him, yet they encapsulate the feelings many of us have endured the past year:
There’s a pain in my chest that I can’t describe
It takes me down and leaves me there
When I talk to the night I can feel it’s stare
It creeps inside and meets me there…..
At least I’m alive…
Alive is the initial taste of what the band’s reemergence sounds like; a retention of the darkness they have consistently explored, notably on SOLACE, paired with a glistening energy aimed to uplift and uphold their dedication to wowing larger than life dancefloors.
Alive begins to sculpt the first look into a new world for the band and their fans to cohabitate, a continuation of the exploration of place that defines the way they write and perform music. From their debut album recorded on the coast of Australia, onwards to the brooding BLOOM written in the streets of techno mecca Berlin, to SOLACE’s glimpse of the darker side of Los Angeles, the trio now push outwards, less bound by Geographical location, to the wider reaches of space and time.
In lead singer Tyrone Lindqvist’s own words, “It’s a heavier song in some ways, but at its core it’s hopeful. We are – all of us – living in this transitional moment right now and we wanted to focus on the hope that the future holds for us all. To focus on the light at the end of this tunnel.”
This announcement comes alongside the reveal of the band’s North American Fall Tour, and they have already experienced an immense demand for their live return, selling 70,000 tickets in three days for their largest headlining shows to date at Los Angeles Banc of California Stadium. The onsale was a true barometer for just how deeply fans crave the sonic escapism RÜFÜS DU SOL work to deliver at every show. This banner moment joins two sold out nights at Red Rocks Amphitheater in August, and a bevy of headlining festival appearances already announced including Governors Ball, Austin City Limits, III Points and more.
Armed with platinum-certified albums ATLAS and BLOOM and gold album SOLACE, all of which spawned multi-platinum, platinum and gold singles Take Me, Sundream, Desert Night, You Were Right, Like An Animal, Say A Prayer For Me, Innerbloom, Underwater and You Were Right, and with 2020’s Live From Joshua Tree Live album and film accumulating over 11 million views and 20 million streams, it’s safe to say Aussies are definitely ready for new RÜFÜS DU SOL.