LISTEN HERE
(Los Angeles, CA – March 3rd, 2023) – Australian singer/songwriter and pop prodigy Ruel releases his highly anticipated debut album 4TH WALL via RCA Records. Through a journey that spanned over the last three years, Ruel’s long-awaited debut album explores his most personal and stellar musical offerings to date.
“I started conceptualizing the album way back in 2020. I’d just come off tour and I was working out of a studio in Bali. It was the first time in ages that I was able to take a moment and look back at all the craziness of the past few years. It felt like my life was a bunch of random scenes in a surreal movie, a bit like that Truman Show feeling we all get where you wonder if your part of some bizarre reality show. That’s when I started thinking of the songs on the album like a soundtrack to the human experience,” Ruel says.
4TH WALL features an array of writing collaborators and producers including M-Phazes (Khalid, Noah Cyrus), Sammy Witte (Harry Styles, Halsey), Gabe Simon (Dua Lipa, Maroon 5), Spencer Stewart (Alina Baraz, ROLE MODEL) and artists PJ Harding and Mikky Ekko. Along with eight new offerings, the album also includes previously released tracks “I DON’T WANT TO BE LIKE YOU,” the emotive “MUST BE NICE,” the hypnotic “SOMEONE ELSE’S PROBLEM,” the pop anthem “YOU AGAINST YOURSELF,” the introspective “LET THE GRASS GROW” and the anthemic “GROWING UP IS___.” Full track list below.
Speaking more on the album, Ruel adds, “I wanted to write an album where there’s something everyone can relate to. I love to write about things I’ve experienced personally but I also love to take inspiration from anything and everything that I see happening around me, either directly or indirectly. Often, I’ll put myself in someone else shoes and play out different scenarios in my head to imagine how they might feel and then write from their perspective. I love the freedom this method gives me because sometimes it’s hard to find inspiration when you’re stuck living in a tour bus for months on end. The first song I wrote was “END SCENE” which is the final track on the record and the inspiration for my album cover concept of a car crashing into a sunset horizon.”
4TH WALL Track List –
- GO ON WITHOUT ME
- I DON’T WANT TO BE LIKE YOU
- SITTING IN TRAFFIC
- JAPANESE WHISKEY
- GROWING UP IS__
- SET YOURSELF ON FIRE
- LIE
- LET THE GRASS GROW
- YOU AGAINST YOURSELF
- SOMEONE ELSE’S PROBLEM
- WISH I HAD YOU
- IF AND/OR WHEN
- MUST BE NICE
- END SCENE
About Ruel:
At just twenty years old and with over 2 billion streams worldwide, the performer born Ruel Van Dijk has experienced several careers worth of success. Since debuting in 2017 at the age of fourteen on producer M-Phazes “Golden Years,” Ruel was the youngest artist to appear on the popular live segment “Like a Version” on renowned Australian youth radio station triple j. He has since released three EPs, earned five platinum records, and amassed over two billion streams worldwide. As the youngest artist to sell out the Sydney Opera House (twice), he has been hailed by the likes of Elton John, and touring partners Khalid and Shawn Mendes, while being declared by media critics as “the next global pop star in waiting.” His decorated career includes two MTV Europe Music Awards, a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award, an ARIA Award, and numerous nominations.
