Alert the stans: Ruel returns with new single, as long as you care, announces new EP

Header image by the brilliant Michelle Grace Hunder.

It's difficult to find an artist quite like Ruel in the Australian music space. As a musician, he was someone laden with potential and promise from the get-go; his earliest work - arriving back when he was just a young teen - lush with this grace and charm that's only taken him to the upper echelon of Australia's music world throughout the three or so years since, and in everything he's put out since then, he's seemingly one-upped himself, growing into a more mature, well-rounded heavyweight bound for future stardom.

Then, there are the people that have latched onto his rise, and won't be letting go anytime soon. He's one of the few musicians that could sell out a run of headline dates before they're even announced (it's happened before, trust us), and with every single release this seems to gro, with the musician building an army of-kinds comparable to those you'd expect from your big, stadium-selling pop stars (which again, is a place Ruel totally could - and probably will - end up).

All of this combined has carved Ruel a position at the top, and if his butter-smooth second EP Free Time didn't convert you last year and set his trajectory in stone, then his just-announced third EP BRIGHT LIGHTS, RED EYES is sure to do it with its arrival on October 23rd. Written entirely in Paris, the EP is said to be a recollection of what's been a chaotic year for Ruel, who has constantly elevated himself and evolved as he only grows bigger - this journey maturation being in the spotlight of all his work, but BRIGHT LIGHTS, RED EYES especially.

"I want to get across that this project is another step forward in maturity for me," he explains on the EP. "FREE TIME was a step up from READY, and this BRIGHT LIGHTS, RED EYES EP is a step up again. This project was a stream of consciousness when I was writing it at the time, and I feel like that’s the way all projects and songs are for me. They are moments in time. This project isn’t who I am right now, as I wrote these songs last year, but it’s the most mature you’ve ever heard me and it was me, in that moment in time. The songs I’m writing now will be more mature again, and I love that my fans can come on this journey with me as I grow."

The EP announcement also comes with its first taste in as long as you care, and if there's one song that really shows this aforementioned sense of growing maturity, this one will do it. It's subtle R&B mixed with bright-eyed pop, a two-stepping production expertly crafted by M-Phazes (once again) forming the perfect underlay for Ruel's vocals, which continues to extend itself and evolve as time goes on. He really feels like a renowned R&B heavyweight on this track; finding every ounce of reflective emotion in its lyrics, and fleshing them out until it's at its most present and amplified - something that takes a really incredible musician to do.

There's also a video directed by Grey Ghost, and furthermore, the launch of RuelVision, which is said to be 24/7 'television network' launching on Tuesday September 15th that will be taking us further behind the charming musician and the experiences that influence his silky vocal and the touching lyricism he brings through those vocals.

In the meantime, take a dive into Ruel's new single as long as you care below, and find some just-announced tour dates underneath that, as a part of the growing Factory Summer Festival tour. 

Ruel Tour Dates (as a part of Factory Summer Festival): 

Ice Cream Factory (92 Roe Street, Northbridge, 6000) - 11 – 31 December 2020
Victoria Parklands (271 Gilchrist Avenue, Brisbane, 4006) - 11 – 31 December 2020
Federation Square (Swanston St & Flinders St, Melbourne, 3000) - 19 March – 5 April 2021

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