Releasing
her first single of the year, Ruti glides effortlessly into summer with
her track “Closer To You” out this July 31st.
“Closer
To You” is a
gently meandering neo-soul offering with Ruti’s dulcet tones backdropped
on bed of breezy production at the hands of Wayne Wilkins, known for his
work most notably with Beyoncé and Leona Lewis. The single is the
first track of a 4-track EP to be released later this year and it stands as an
impressive entrance into the project, allowing Ruti’s name to sit
comfortably amongst fellow female risers Celeste, Pip Millett, Arlo Parks
and Mahalia.
Speaking
on the track, Ruti explains; “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 it's own little journey but I love where it is now
and can't wait to share”
Arriving
a year after the release of her 2019 iTunes chart topping debut EP, Racing
Cars, and two years after her similarly successful debut single, “Dreams”, Ruti
returns with a fresh collection of reflective and intimate neo-soul flavoured
jams. A self-described “seasonal person”, Ruti’s laid-back
summer-infused new tracks glow with confidence, providing a rich soundscape for
her leftfield melodies and soothing soprano.
Background
Ruti’s
story is all about finding her voice. It’s seen her go from Sixth Form student,
to prime-time TV and the top of the charts in a flash. Practically overnight
millions of people knew the sound of her celestial tones, but they hadn’t
properly been introduced to the real Ruti—until now.
Born
and raised in Essex—her Dad is Nigerian, her mum from the UK—growing up, there
was plenty of gospel and ABBA playing in the household. Ruti sang solo
in public for the first time at 11 years old, during a nerve-wracking open mic
event singing Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep”. Adele’s 21 was the first
album she sought out for herself and actually paid to download for her iPod
Touch. That year Ruti only sang Adele songs infront of people. Later
she’d shake off her nerves about performing live, playing Motormouth Mabel in a
theatre group production of Hairspray. “In life people would probably
describe me as a nervous person,” Ruti says, “But on stage it all
goes away.”
Studying
music during Sixth Form, Ruti’s confidence began to grow as she made her
first forays into playing electric guitar and songwriting. The songs she wrote
at that time would later form the foundations of future releases. In fact, the
track “Racing Cars” was developed from “Fall Asleep”, the very first song Ruti
ever wrote; “The song was about finding yourself in a hectic, fast paced
world, overthinking and anxiety—a lot of things that I was experiencing at that
age,” Ruti explains.
During
her second year at Sixth form college, Ruti’s world had flipped from
part-time carer in full-time education, to prime-time television. Everything
changed when living legend Tom Jones—who describes Ruti’s voice
as a “breath of fresh air”—hit the buzzer
and spun his chair around, landing her a spot on popular TV singing show The
Voice. “I knew I was going to spend my life performing, but I
thought I’d be part of an ensemble in musicals or a backing dancer,” says Ruti
still in disbelief. Even though she gave it her all, she’d never imagined even
making it through the auditions, let alone being crowned winner of the
show's seventh season at 18.
Essex
pavements were pretty much all Ruti had had been chasing up until that
point, but music was rapidly expanding her horizons and she found herself
getting the train alone into central London for writing sessions. “I felt I
was growing up really fast,” Ruti exclaims, joking that, “Figuring
out how to work the tube was a big life moment!” A year of writing sessions
validated her skills as a songwriter, as she embraced the beauty of simplicity
in her writing.
A year
after the release of her debut single “Dreams”, hit number one on the iTunes
chart, Ruti’s 2019 iTunes chart topping debut four-track EP, Racing
Cars, pulled up. Her ethereal vocals float over the pulsing and euphoric
title track. Elsewhere the EP features the glorious “Changing Places”, “The
Swan” and “I Couldn’t Do This Without You”—genre blending tracks that take in
folky and soulful influences.
It
seemed like Ruti was living the dream—she’d earned a platform, signed
to Polydor records, and been given a unique opportunity to define her
sound, but it came with a lot of pressures that were a “shaky moment” for her
mental health. Her world was changing at hyperspeed and the lyrics of “Dreams”
articulated the complicated reality of the big things that were happening and the
new places that Ruti found herself stepping into: “Oh, my life / Is
changing every day / In every possible way / And oh, my dreams / It's never
quite as it seems.”
After
the release of the Racing Cars EP, Ruti broke away from the
management and label deal she’d inherited from The Voice winning
package. She took her independence without missing a beat, choosing instead to
build her own team in a more organic way, on her own terms. There’s a sense
that with her new material Ruti has captured her sound—Ruti’s
found her voice.
“I thought I would write only sad music. It’s easier to write sad songs. Music mainly makes me happy, so I didn’t really want to just write songs that would make me sad. I wanted to enjoy it,” Ruti beams. “I’ve realised that my voice is the thing that ties it all together.”
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