Ruel levels up with ‘honest’ sophomore album Kicking My Feet

Ruel is a very open book when it comes to writing music but his latest album sees the young singer offer up a “daunting” level of vulnerability and honesty.

The 22-year-old Sydney artist, who now lives in the hustle and bustle of LA, has been quietly for two years working on Kicking My Feet and is finally ready for his fans to hear it.

The full album comes after he teased the project by releasing three singles including the already popular I Can Die Now, which had its global premiere in July and received more than one million streams within days.

The music video was broadcast on MTV in Times Square, an opportunity Ruel described as a “weird pinch-me moment, for sure”.

Kicking My Feet marks the start of a new era for Ruel and he sat down with PLAY to chat about how he crafted an emotionally relatable record that blends pop, alt and R&B into a modern sound that reflects his evolution as both a person and an artist.

After relocating from Sydney to LA and signing with Giant Music, Ruel immersed himself in a new creative ecosystem and began building the album from the ground up.

Ruel said he found himself writing about life in general, and the title came from him being more vulnerable about talking about love in a positive way.

“I’d never really written songs too much about love that didn’t have some sort of twist or breakup or trauma in it because I didn’t think it was worth writing about unless it was sad. But for this album I was, like, no, you’ve got to lean into the cringiness sometimes, and lean into the sincerity and being earnest,” he said.

“I‘ve always been a very open book especially in the studio, because I know that’s where the good stuff (comes from), but I guess the songs I’ve chosen for this album were definitely the most vulnerable.

“It’s been pretty daunting to offer up this level of honesty in my songwriting but seeing the way it’s already connected so personally with fans has calmed my ‘pre-album’ nerves in a huge way.”

Ruel pushed himself so hard creatively, it wasn’t until he had to finalise the track list to 11 songs that he realised he had more than 200 songs.

“It’s pretty wild. I mean, there’s definitely a bunch of bad songs in there, you’re never gonna write 200 great songs,” he said.

“Once I had about 20, I could pick from 10, but all the other leftovers, I hope at least 20 would definitely see the light of day one day as I love them so much.”

He joined forces with long-time collaborator M-Phazes as well as some of the industry’s biggest producers, including Julian Bunetta, Joel Little, Kenny Beats and Dan Wilson, who have worked with the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, One Direction, Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams, Dominic Fike, Ed Sheeran and Adele.

Ruel touched back down in Australia after being away from home for three months and was in Perth last week for a fan event at Midland Records.

While he has performed in WA over the years he hasn’t spent much time on the west coast and hopes on his return he can explore more of our beautiful State.

“It definitely feels weird being back in Australia and to come back to Perth feels like I’m home, but also, like, I don’t recognise anything as I’ve barely spent any time here. I love it here, though, it’s so beautiful,” he said.

Spending much of his time now living in the US, Ruel said it was “super different” to Australia, but LA had a similar lifestyle to Sydney in terms of people enjoying the outdoors when the weather is nice.

“I feel like I’m still finding my feet in terms of trying to find some sense of community there because there isn’t really any sense of community in LA, it’s very much people come in and out and they’re there to work. I definitely turn into a bit of a workaholic when I’m there,” he said.

Ruel is planning to tour the album next year and has already announced a one-off show on the steps of the Sydney Opera House on December 9.

Arriving on the scene as a teenage sensation in 2017, Ruel has cemented himself as a global star and has his passionate fans to thank.

“Thanks for sticking around,” he said.

“I spent a quiet two years writing this thing so to see everyone coming back out and excited to hear the album, and come to these signings, and just all the love in general is reciprocated. And I can’t wait to see what they think.”