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Review
Ryan McPhun-led New Zealanders The Ruby Suns could well follow the Americans’ lead with Fight Softly. Admirably accomplished though the band’s previous long-players have been – 2008’s Sea Lion was particularly special, a candy-coated cornucopia of tropical sounds, addictive melodies and indie sensibilities – Fight Softly is, while not a game-changer, certainly a level-raiser. It glistens with pop immediacy, rollicks with breathtaking percussive interpositions, and clatters to a beat entirely of its own construct. Elements familiar to fans of F*** Buttons, Vampire Weekend, The Very Best and the aforementioned Merriweather-makers are present, but the assembly here is inspired.
With the UK gripped, still, by bitter winter, records like Fight Softly serve as welcome sunshine, brightening any day with a sonic smile so infectious that all but the most doleful of listener will come away grinning like a member of the Glee cast in full hammed-up flow. It’s simply irresistible, from the first, enticing shimmers and chirrups of Sun Lake Rinsed through to the strangely curt climax of drums-out-front closer Olympics on Pot – which, despite the connotations of its title, is a distinctly energetic number.
The stuttering shuffle of Mingus and Pike – twinkling keys atop thuds and claps that sound cut and pasted like a Flying Lotus workout – breaks for an oddly Marillion-echoing mid-section; but the track’s sunny disposition ensures the mind doesn’t regress to a grey 80s state of no return. A slow down – akin to someone leaning on a CDJ, vinyl setting active, underwater – triggers phase three of the song, where those twitchy beats return and the whole comes together to render the components just that: pieces of a bigger picture that’s impossible to look away from.
With a Chris Ofili Upper Room vividness to proceedings, there’s every chance over-exposure to Fight Softly could result in a headache – the tropicalia two-step of Cinco, African vibes of Cranberry and washed-out synth-pop of Haunted House combine to comprise a potent experience. But Merriweather’s cover alone was quite the dizzying sight, the sounds within equally dazzling, and Fight Softly deserves to be as widely recognised. Hope, then, that its makers break under-the-radar cover imminently. --Mike Diver
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Customer Reviews
Ryan McPhun The Ruby Suns new album delivers a big burst of warmth
and sunshine at just the right time. (We've all had enough of the
Long Cold Winter haven't we?!)
His perfectly pleasant 2007 release 'Sea Lion', despite being a little
rough around the edges, showed evidence of a musical imagination
with the capacity to absorb ideas from many genres and cultures.
Give 'Oh, Mojave' and 'Tane Mahuta' a listen for immediate elucidation.
It is the lovely rolling harmonies on final track'Morning Sun', however,
which seem to point the way forward. A taste of better things to come.
'Fight Softly' is a collection of ten compositions which slowly
and gently seep into our consciousness without any need to wave
placards or use insistent barging elbows to gain our attention.
It is a grown-up affair.
Mr McPhun's repeated use of luminous vocal harmonies is the glue
which holds this gentle but always-engaging music together. They
cast a warm, golden sheen over his beguiling musical landscapes.
Opening track 'Sun Lake Rinsed' is a perfect example of how
to make a beautiful song out of the very simplest materials.
A economically effective synth and percussion framework supports
Mr McPhun's confident falsetto, soaring like a lone bird over
the surface of the glowing supporting harmonies.
'Mingus and Pike' has a stronger rhythmic presence but this is
never allowed to overpower the subtely rolling melodic material.
The half-heard voices in the small break at its heart are
an enigmatic punctuation mark; an unanswered
question mark left hanging in the air .
'Cinco' has an understated carnival air about it. Something to
do with the shuffling quasi-latin rhythm and bouncy bass-line.
Delightful.
'Closet Astrologer' is a thing of real beauty. Slow, stately
and utterly captivating, this dream of a song is alone worth
the price of the album. The echoing anthemic central section
finds Mr McPhun singing like an angel, effortlessly and with
ice-melting clarity of purpose.
'How Kids Fail' is another big song. The gentle introduction paves
the way for the album's most raucous and complex composition.
A riot of clattering percussion and wildly imaginative vocal invention.
A blissfully unpredictable confection.
Final track 'Olympics On Pot' brings this fine album to a rousing close.
The experience of listening to it is a bit like waking from a dream
without being able to remember just what it was we were dreaming about.
Underwater Beach Boys harmonies and a big friendly beat.
An elusive listening experience and all the better for it.
This splendid recording is as close as music might come
to giving you a big warm hug just when you most need it.
Highly Recommended.
It's true this album is quite different from previous Ruby Suns albums.
Regardless, I consider it well worth the listen.
for me and for all the good time associated with fighting softlty: album of the year!
If you like that electronic ambient sort of sound, this might be a 4 to 5 star album to you. I was hoping for a nice melodic splash-down and i think it fails at that. I could see this album growing on people as the sounds held within are musically done well, it just was less of the kind of music i tend to enjoy a lot.
**If you enjoy the newer Radiohead, i hear some of that sound in this** (san guitars)
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