Over this past year, I’ve written a bit about the acclaimed Sydney, Australia-based electro pop trio RUFUS DU SOL. And as you may recall, with the release of their first two albums — 2013’s ATLAS, which landed at number 1 on the Australian charts and 2016’s critically and commercially successful follow up, Bloom, which featured smash hits “You Were Right” and “Innerbloom,” the trio comprised of Tyrone Lindqvist, Jon George and James Hunt quickly became sensations both at home and internationally. During a two year period of international touring to support their first two albums, the Sydney-based electro pop trio developed a reputation for combining the DIY live aesthetics of indie rock and punk rock with the euphoria of club culture.
Once they finished touring, Lindqvist, George and Hunt spent a year in Venice, CA writing and recording their third and latest full-length album SOLACE, and as the trio note, that while the album is influenced by the dichotomy of the stark desert landscapes and coastlines of California, it’s a much fuller exploration of their evolving sound — and a deeper, more intimate glimpse into melancholy and transcendence. “It feels like a new RÜFÜS,”the trio said in press notes. “We are inspired by our new home out here, by the people we’ve met and the music we’ve heard along the way. We’ve got a refreshed sense of ambition and cannot wait to share our creation with the world.”
“Underwater,” SOLACE‘s second single further cemented the trio’s growing reputation for forward-thinking, boundary-pushing production as the track was centered around arpeggiated and propulsive Giorgio Moroder-like synths, a soaring choral hook and verses that express an aching longing. Ultimately, the track reveals an act that has managed to carefully walk a tightrope between arena and club rocking bombast with an earnest and intimate emotionality. “Lost In My Mind” the album’s third and latest single continues with forward thinking, electronic production centered around twinkling and arpeggiated synths, a chopped up choral-based hook paired with soulful vocals. And while the song sonically nods at Snap!‘s “Rhythm is a Dancer,” the song manages to evoke both the anxious desperation of someone hopelessly trapped within his own mind, and the push and pull of new love.
Directed by Drew Kirsch, the recently released video features the members of RUFUS DU SOL sitting on a moving couch that takes them through an abandoned factory on the outskirts of a large city. The couch propels the trio through the walls of an abandoned factories and buildings — and when they finally return home, they’re covered in dust, dirt and grime. Interestingly, the video emphasizes a larger struggle within the song — the struggle to keep oneself together, in the face of adversity and confusion.
