Premiere: New Perth indie-electro duo RUINER unveil their debut EP, Heartbeats

While newcoming Perth-based duo RUINER may be a newer addition to the city's indie/electronic worlds, the pair of musicians that feature in the band - James Knox and Justin Zanetic - are staples with a lifetime spent across some of Perth's most brilliant acts. The former - James Knox - has left an imprint through various projects over the years, from garage-rock group J.F.K. to his more electronic-tuned solo project Jamie Bvllet, while the latter - Justin Zanetic - has featured in groups like Ray Finkle, favourites amongst Fremantle's rock world.

RUINER is a new collaborative project that launched between the two names last year, tying together their shared musical worlds to create electrifying indie-electronica-pop that plucks from their long-winding lists of influences and past projects, carrying the charm and shine we'd expect from the pairing and distilling it into an all new project. It began with their debut single Say Something last year and continued again with their second single Threads; the two songs being bursts of indie-electronica that feels like the worlds of The xx and RUFUS DU SOL colliding - but in their own, distinctive way.

Today, we're stoked to premiere their debut EP Heartbeats, which showcases how - over the span of four tracks - the duo are able to manipulate and warp their sound into different flourishes of what RUINER aims to present, and how each of these different edges are united in the musicality and production that keeps everything in check.

Featuring the previously-released Threads and three new tracks, Heartbeats feels like a proper introduction to RUINER. At points, their work dances with a heavier emphasis on electronica and how it fuses with more pop-like hooks; catchy, yet cathartic in a similar vein to musicians like Caribou or Jamie xx's memorable remix of The xx's On Hold. At other points, however, it swerves into a more indie-like lane, taking the learnings the pair have experienced through their past projects and creating something a little more evolved and well-rounded from them, something that feels like a slap in the face from the future, rather than anything from the past.

In all, however, the Heartbeats EP is full of talent and musicality, which soon becomes apparent as the focal point between each of the EP's tracks - that, and the songwriting and lyricism that underpins every song. Take the potent title track as an example of that touching lyricism: "The song Heartbeats is about feeling tethered to someone, both emotionally and mentally," the pair say on the single. "I’d written the lyrics post-breakup a little while ago, and wanted to express how even though we weren’t in each others’ lives anymore, we were still somehow going through the same motions."

There's a cathartic sense of therapy amongst the lyrics of Heartbeats and across much of the EP full-stop, making it quite a powerful listen. You can take a dive into the full thing below as it premieres on Pilerats today ahead of its official release on April 30th, and be sure to catch the duo launch the EP with two shows this May - full details underneath the EP:

Tour Dates: 

May 8th - The Aardvark, Fremantle
May 14th - El Grotto, Scarborough

Follow RUINER: INSTAGRAM