The new single from RUTO, No Repeats, is out now, and for lovers of anything that crosses way too many genres to mention all of them, this is for you!
No Repeats is written from the perspective of being in love with someone suffering from anxiety and depression.
The interesting choice of instrumentation and the jazzy changes keep the listener on their toes – I guess in the same way the writer is on their toes trying to keep up with their partner’s needs.
Beautiful stereo in the guitars, and I particularly like the gentle fast funk rhythm guitar that comes in in mostly just the left speaker.
The backing vocals are nicely stereo and come and go as and when needed. Expertly added and without distracting from the lead vocal.
I’m particularly drawn by the seamless combination of so-called “real instruments” and synths; this is an example of genre-crossing at its best.
There’s a kind of jazzy Morrissey/ Cure feel to the overall song and the use of major to diminished chords adds to the almost creepiness, despair and angst that I think the writer intended.
RUTO says in his pitch that he writes songs for himself. I like that ethos! It takes the pressure off and allows the writer to completely immerse themselves in their own thoughts. There’s no writing for radio happening here. This is a long (ish) song whose length alone is likely to render this an unlikely candidate for commercial air play. But that’s just fine – this is a great song, that was clearly very therapeutic for the writer.
Reading the biography, I am really drawn by RUTO’s ethos; lots of self reflection and by the sounds of it, a strong community attitude.
As a producer, I felt that the kick drum was a little lost in the mix. The peak of the kick is very low, and therefore is not going to be replicated by most home hi-fi systems. I also felt that the (superbly played) shaker was a little lost and I’d raise the top end of the EQ just to bring out a little brightness and clarity of this, and of the track overall.
No Repeats is a heartfelt, unique and genre-defying work of art. We wish RUTO great success in all his endeavours.
We give this track four ears out of five
