WATCH: Ruti - 'My Sunrise'

Happy Thursday, folks! Here's something that's guaranteed to bring a little slice of joy into your day. Ruti shared her new track My Sunrise a few weeks back - it follows Closer To You, and both are taken from her forthcoming EP. In the track, her smooth vocals sit over a beat provided by Wayne Wilkins (Beyoncé, Leona Lewis). The new music video which I'm sharing here today is a little ray of sunshine, showing Ruti herself dancing like nobody is watching against the backdrop of London's unmistakable skyline. I miss trips to London so much so this little window onto it is a really lovely thing to behold.

On the track, Ruti shares: "Sunrise isn't really about or for anyone in particular. In some ways I wrote it for myself. It's a reminder that often there is a lot more time to do things than I think I have and we have to allow ourselves to stop or slow down sometimes. Obviously I wrote it in a Covid free time so I was imagining taking a break somewhere else for a while, but I still have to give myself space to breathe working from home, because it gets so overwhelming." 

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LISTEN: I See Rivers - 'Deep & Rolling Green'

Really excited to share that the brilliant debut album from I See Rivers is finally out in the world! A while in the making, it's a triumphant record charting the several years of the band's existence so far, since meeting at university in Liverpool (though they're all originally from Norway). Loving it. The record was made in the renovated chapel StudiOwz with Owain Jenkins, Toby Couling, Alec Brits and Emilie Krogh Johannessen. 

On the record, the band explain that "preparing for and recording this album has been a really long process. Since this is our first full length album some of these songs were written while we were still in uni 7 years ago, while some of the songs were written especially for the album. All three of us write songs for the band and for the album we decided to write most of the songs individually. We wanted to explore how it would sound if we let our individual style come through in the writing and then making it sound 'like I See Rivers' in the way we produced the songs in the end. When we started recording the album we decided that we would have no boundaries and let the music flow in the direction it needed to." 

I SEE RIVERS · Grow And Go

Following recent singles How, Collide and Helios, the album arrives alongside the single release of Grow & Go, a track written during the university years, but finished up in the idyllic welsh countryside that the band have settled themselves into. On the track, the trio explain "the song is about waking up in a relationship that's gone stagnant without realising how you got there, standing on the edge of letting it go. It's about understanding that everything in life has an expiry date, and that there's beauty in that as it offers opportunities to grow and evolve amidst the sadness, grief and loneliness."

Listen to Deep & Rolling Green here.

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LISTEN: I See Rivers - 'Dying Moon'

I am delighted to learn that I SEE RIVERS are releasing their debut album Deep & Rolling Green on 2nd October. Following a string of recent singles including How and Collide, the trio are back with brand new tune Dying Moon. It's one of the more delicate tracks of the record, with those three part harmonies sending shivers up (and down, and up) your spine. Exquisite.

Originally from Norway, the trio met in Liverpool while studying, and moved to Pembrokeshire after recording their first EP at StudiOwz, a studio in a converted chapel. They returned to the chapel to record their debut with Owain Jenkins, Toby Couling, Alex Brits and Emilie Krogh Johannessen - the record was created with support from PRS Momentum Fund, Music Norway, PRS Women Make Music, BBC Launchpad and their fans via Kickstarter. It's a very communal project!

I SEE RIVERS · Dying Moon

On the new track, the trio share that "Dying Moon was written on a cold and windy evening in Tenby a few years ago and was heavily influenced by Ernest Hemingway's 'The Old Man and the Sea'. The song is about devoting your whole soul and all your effort into someone or something, and only realising you've gone too far when it's already too late. [...] we wanted this track to be the time where you take a deep breath and imagine yourself floating out to sea just as the story illustrates so beautifully."

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LISTEN: Ruti - 'Closer To You'

Tuesday (every day) means new music... am I right? I'm loving this new track from Ruti at the moment, taken from her upcoming 4-track EP, due to be released later in the year. The track arrives a year since the release of her iTunes chart-topping debut EP Racing Cars, and a couple of years after her The Voice winners single Dreams. From the first listen, Closer To You had me mesmerised by those instantly recognisable vocals. Smooth and soulful vibes abound. The track was produced by Wayne Wilkins, who is known for his work with Beyoncé and Leona Lewis. 

Talking about the track, Ruti explains that "I had the guitar riff for Closer To You saved as a voice note for literally months, I was just completely stuck for concept and lyrics. Then I brought it up in a session one day and everyone really vibed with it and we wrote to it so easily. It feels like Closer To You has been on its own little journey but I love where it is now and can't wait to share." 

Ruti · Closer to You

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LISTEN: I See Rivers - 'How'

Continuing on the theme of sublime harmonies kicked off by my MICHELLE post yesterday, here's the latest from I See Rivers. The Norwegian (via Liverpool and Pembrokeshire) trio have been a favourite of mine since I saw them supporting Cosmo Sheldrake a couple of years ago - complete with the band selling their freshly knitted and limited edition merch from the stage. I loved the music and their personalities shone through in the performance. With help from PRS Momentum Fund, Music Norway, PRS Women Make Music, BBC Launchpad and a fan campaign on Kickstarter, they've recently finished work on their debut album. How is the fourth single to be taken from the album.

I SEE RIVERS · How

The track uses the legend of Perseus and Andromeda to tell a turbulent love story, with the trio's trademark multi-layered harmonies sitting atop synths to make another brilliant electro-pop track. In their words - "through Andromeda's eyes, the song echoes her deep understanding of her connecting to Perseus and her belief that even through hardships and turmoil, they have always been destined to be together - even after death she and Perseus are to spend the rest of their existence as constellations in the sky. 

"Although drawn from the Greek myth, the deeper and more personal message of the song is about the need to make sense of things whilst battling the fear of losing face and understanding."

The debut album from I See Rivers is due later this year.

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