STACK #205 Nov 2021

MUSIC FEATURE

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INTERVIEW

RÜFÜS DU SOL, L-R: Tyrone Lindqvist,

JAMES HUNT RÜFÜS DU SOL RÜFÜS DU SOL are following their three previous top-two albums with a record which implores us to allow ourselves something of a transformative breakdown – to dissolve those thorny emotional barricades we're so deft at constructing. STACK spoke to James Hunt about the expansive and effusive Surrender . Words Zoë Radas

James Hunt, Jon George.

Photo credit: Eliot Lee Hazel

was to transformTyrone's voice, ever so slowly, into a children's choir. “You get tripped out a bit, because [the "morph"] occurs slowly, and you’re not sure if the voices are changing or not," he says. "[Recording] a children’s choir was partially inspired by listening to Justice; they have a lot of children’s choir moments that are counteracted by a super dark, analogue, heavy electronic music underneath.” The final appendage sewn in was the “Let

I n 2019, months before the world's musicians began to get creative with what a 'live performance' could be – something now indispensable from an artist's bag of tricks – RÜFÜS DU SOL bent their steps from LA out to Joshua Tree Desert. The arid landscape has historically provided the scene of many a transformative musical exercise, and the

hit a stage again until just a few weeks ago for NYC's Governor's Ball. “It was a really, really sick feeling being back up there,” Hunt smiles. “It feels very surreal, it feels a bit dreamlike, 'cos you forget what that feeling is like. You forget the experience of seeing thousands of people, bouncing up and down. Especially after the year and a half we’ve had, the gravity carried, with people being in a space together. I’m just grateful to be able to do what we love again.” That feeling is about to

James Hunt during the live Joshua Tree performance (2019).

electronic trio embraced and added to that rich history, filming a 45-minute set utterly alone. Watching it back now, as the Sydney group build, layer and weave their

the rain come down” vocal, sung by Tyrone. But Hunt had a feeling this was an opportunity to fling the horizon wider still. “We're like, 'This song follows no rules whatsoever. It’s just a weird, healing mantra, and then in the middle there’s this voice. It would be sweet to just have this really powerful voice.'” It was Tyrone himself who suggested Curtis Harding, whose music he'd been recently listening to. The band contacted the sought-after vocalist, and Harding responded immediately. “He loved the song and he sent back his version of it, and basically straight away he’d nailed it completely. We were

become home once more, as Hunt and his bandmates Tyrone Lindqvist (vocals and guitar) and Jon George (keys) gear up to release their glimmering fourth album Surrender . Its stand-outs are

It feels a bit dreamlike...You

atmospheric beats amongst the rock formations and the prickly flora from which the region gets its name, the deliberate isolation of the whole thing hits differently.

forget the experience of seeing thousands of peope bouncing up and down

many, but the title track is on another plane, with its driving rhythm and heavenly synths. And that voice, imploring the rain to come down?

“A lot of people thought that we'd pivoted, and went

to record it as soon as lockdown hit, because that was the only way

like, 'Oh my God, this is amazing!' He was so easy to work with and I love the result. It’s definitely my favourite track to listen to at the moment, because it takes all these twists and turns, and it’s got this interesting psychedelic progression, and it’s strange and weird..."

That's revered 'slop 'n' soul'

we could do a performance,” explains drummer James Hunt. “But it was something that we’d wanted to do for a while: a location-based performance akin to Pink Floyd, Live at Pompeii , that kind of vibe. I think the alien landscape inspires a lot of sounds and feelings. It was definitely the perfect place for us to start writing our new record.” Since the film premiered last year, the trio focused solely on writing, and their feet didn't

artist Curtis Harding. “A lot of our ideas are a Frankenstein of other ideas, and we cross-pollinate different elements for new tracks,” Hunt explains of the song. “Initially it was the mantra that starts the track with just Tyrone singing, and we layered his voice ten times, so it was like a choir of Tyrone.” The next exhumed limb of an idea

Surrender by R Ü F Ü S DU SOL is out now via Warner.

Continue reading the full interview online at stack.com.au

NOVEMBER 2021

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