Ruel locked in so intensely while working on his second studio album that he sort of blacked out in the process. Whenever he finished one song, he’d jump into making another. When that one was done, the next was underway. This went on and on, in different studios with different collaborators, over the course of two years. Soon enough, he passed the 200-song mark. Then he snapped out of it.
“I knew when to stop when I started writing the same song again,” the Australian pop musician tells Rolling Stone over breakfast in New York. “It was a proper problem. For my last few weeks of sessions, each song that I wrote was a chorus-melody that I’d written in the 200 songs the year before.”
He hadn’t noticed until he played a few back for his label, Giant Music. “They’re like, ‘Dude, this is the same thing,’” Ruel recalls. “And I was like, OK, that’s it.” Then began the process of trimming the pile down to a fraction of its size. He disregarded the duplicates, scrapped the ones that played it too safe, and kept listening until there were 20 songs that he just couldn’t get out of his head — a few that captured the giddy feeling of falling in love, and a few others that felt more introspective. Ruel chose half of the songs that survived his productivity purge to appear on Kicking My Feet, out Oct. 17.
Ruel is 22 now, and he signed his first recording contract, with RCA Records, at 15. “I had no expectations,” he says. “I thought it was going to be maybe a couple of school holidays and then life would start and I would have to forget all about it.” Instead, he went out on the road and built a devoted fanbase with a series of soulful, R&B-infused EPs. He scored early hits in 2018 with “Younger” and “Dazed & Confused,” which proved foundational for later releases including 2020’s enthralling Bright Lights, Red Eyes EP. Still, there were times he wished his initial prediction was right.
“It was very intense for me,” he says. “I didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but in the back of my head, I was like, ‘I don’t want it to get any bigger than this right now.’” Then he got offered an opening slot for Shawn Mendes’ Brisbane and Auckland shows in 2019. They were the biggest shows of Ruel’s career, with a combined audience of nearly 20,000 people. Mendes was only a few years older and a product of a similar teen-star pipeline, but Ruel saw his success as a cautionary tale.
“I remember being on tour with Shawn and seeing what it’s like when you get to that next level — and it scared the fucking shit out of me,” Ruel says. Mendes would later detail his struggles with maintaining his mental health while touring and cancel his Wonder world tour in 2022. “It definitely did not inspire me to be like, ‘Fuck, I want to sell arenas,’” Ruel adds. “I didn’t tell my label, didn’t tell my management. They were all fighting to have me play stadiums from the start, so I definitely kept that to myself.” When Covid hit, he thought, “Careful what you wish for.” Ruel got everything he thought he wanted, again. He stayed home in Australia and made “shitty folk songs” with his friends just for fun. That was more like it.
It’s the kind of simple life he sings about on “The Suburbs,” an early single from Kicking My Feet about being so in love that settling into the most mundane routine sounds like heaven on earth. The romantic declaration is a sweet contrast to “I Can Die Now,” a grooving record that makes meeting his girlfriend his sole purpose in life. “I found you, I can die now,” he sings over spirited guitars. “I know that it’s fucked up, I don’t want to/Nothing more for me to do than be around you.” The dramatic track plays up theatrics he usually avoids. “Every time I write a love song that’s clearly about her, I play it and she’s like, ‘Ew, turn it off,’” Ruel says. “Once I kept writing more and more, she got used to it and that made me get used to it.”
Ruel hid most of that devotion in the shadows while making his debut album, 4th Wall, released in 2023. At the time, he’d gotten “pretty good at dissociating my career from myself and the brand of Ruel,” he says, because it helped him compartmentalize his success and manage his mental health. “I was definitely dissociating a bit too much,” he continues. “Like, ‘I’m an artist, I’m gonna write breakup songs. That’s what artists do.’” The album mirrored the kind of folk-inspired singer-songwriters he loves listening to, like Adrianne Lenker and Elliott Smith. It came at the expense of the more expansive, textured space his voice sounds tailor-made for.
“I was like, ‘I haven’t used my strength,’” Ruel says, reflecting on the record. “What I grew up on and what my voice gravitates to is R&B, it’s the more soulful-sounding stuff. I just fell in love with making that music again.” He traded his old references for Eighties R&B, Prince, and Robert Palmer’s “Johnny and Mary,” and slipped right back into his groove. The standout “When You Walk in the Room,” a bluesy funk track he recorded with hitmaker John Ryan (known for his work with One Direction and Sabrina Carpenter), sounds like a homecoming.
Kicking My Feet opens with “Only Ever,” an impassioned alternative-R&B record that coats his love-drunk confessions in silky synths. Julian Bunetta, who worked on the track, sees a clear parallel between Ruel and artists like Justin Bieber and Zayn Malik. “There are certain voices that are pop, but they can be over guitars and also sing really soulfully,” the producer tells Rolling Stone. “That’s what his voice has the ability to do. Sometimes it takes a minute to find the perfect placement, but then when it does connect, it’s massive.”
Ruel also connected with producer Kenny Beats, who greeted him with the directive, “Let’s make some really classic, timeless soul shit.” The result was “Destroyer,” a piercing confessional written with Dan Wilson. “It’s about a working colleague that I had to get rid of to move on,” Ruel says. In the opening verse, he sings, “Saving my own life/Made me the murderer of you/But I know I can’t claim it as just self-defense/Protecting the illusion of my permanent innocence.” The record had been in the works for five years. “I didn’t realize that I could let people go,” Ruel adds. “It was intense. I felt like I had to let go of a friend to grow. It was really weird, because I was in this position as a 16-year-old, and this guy was, like, 40.”
Goodbyes aren’t as bittersweet for Ruel anymore. He’d spent his entire career with RCA, but when his A&R Tunji Balogun — who signed him and remained his link to the heads of the label — departed for a new role as CEO of Def Jam in 2022, he knew being there wouldn’t be the same. “We had security with him,” Ruel says about their trusted bond. He told the label, “If you’re not gonna recreate that, then yeah, we’ll have to part ways.” They agreed. “I really respect RCA for that,” he adds. “They easily could have kept me on a shelf for years.”
Ruel left Australia behind around two years ago to settle in Los Angeles when he joined the Giant Music roster. He writes about the thousands of miles of distance on the mournful ballad “No News Is Good News,” framing the disquiet lyrics from the perspective of his mother. “I don’t want much from ya, just tell me you’re alive,” he sings. He admits that he doesn’t call home enough, but when he sent his mom the song, her reaction caught him off-guard. “Her response was, ‘I do not care that much, you’re making me sound so pick-me,’” Ruel says. “I was like, ‘What the fuck? I thought you’d find this beautiful!’ She [said], ‘No, you’re making me sound like such a fucking crazy mom.”
L.A. is home now, as least for the next five to 10 years, Ruel says. He’s looking forward to seeing how the time unfolds now that the voice in his head saying “I don’t want it to get any bigger than this” isn’t as loud anymore. “If everything comes, I’m gonna say yes to it,” Ruel says. “I’m definitely gonna let the music and let the world take me wherever it is, because it’s not in my control at all … I feel like I would drown if I tried to take control of everything in my life.” His sights are set on the present, living between the soul-searching and endearing bliss of Kicking My Feet.
“The goal is not extreme happiness or extreme success, my goal is to be content, comfortable, and sustainable,” Ruel says. “That’s in everything in my life. When it comes to love, my career in general, or, where I want to be in 15 years, I don’t need the extreme highs that come with the extreme lows. That’s what I learned from writing all of these songs. That’s actually what I want out of all of this — that’s always what I wanted.”
He hadn’t noticed until he played a few back for his label, Giant Music. “They’re like, ‘Dude, this is the same thing,” Ruel recalls. “And I was like, OK, that’s it.” Then began the process of trimming the pile down to a fraction of its size. He disregarded the duplicates, scrapped the ones that played it too safe, and kept listening until there were 20 records that he just couldn’t get out of his head — a few that captured the giddy feeling of falling in love, and a few others that pulled the magnifying glass closer in a newfound introspective embrace. Ruel chose half of the songs that survived his productivity purge to appear on Kicking My Feet, out Oct. 17.
“It feels like this is the start now,” Ruel says. The sentiment is notably devoid of any sense of boredom or burnout from the 22-year-old who signed his first recording contract at 15. “I had no expectations,” he says about singing with RCA Records in 2017. “I thought it was going to be maybe a couple of school holidays and then life would really start and I would have to forget all about it — you know, reality.” Reality never really arrived. He went out on the road and built a devoted fanbase with soulful, R&B-infused EPs. He scored early hits in 2018 with “Younger” and “Dazed & Confused,” which proved foundational of later releases including 2020’s enthralling Bright Lights, Red Eyes EP. It was everything he thought he wanted, until it wasn’t.
“It was very intense for me,” Ruel continues. “I didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but in the back of my head, I was like, ‘I don’t want it to get any bigger than this right now.’” Then, he got offered the opening slot for Shawn Mendes’ Brisbane and Auckland shows in 2019. They were the biggest shows of his career, with a combined audience of nearly 20,000 people. Mendes was only a few years older and a product of a similar teen star pipeline, but Ruel didn’t view his success as aspirational. It seemed more like a cautionary tale.
“I remember being on tour with Shawn and seeing what it’s like when you get to that next level — and it scared the fucking shit out of me,” Ruel says. Mendes would later detail his struggles with maintaining his mental health while touring, and cancel his Wonder world tour in 2022. “It definitely did not inspire me to be like, ‘Fuck, I want to sell arenas,’” Ruel adds. “I didn’t tell my label, didn’t tell my management. They were all fighting to have me play stadiums from the start, so I definitely kept that to myself.” When COVID hit, he thought, “Careful what you wish for.” Ruel got everything he thought he wanted, again. He stayed home in Australia and made “shitty folk songs” with his friends just for fun. That was more like it.
It’s the kind of simple life he sings about on “The Suburbs,” an early single from Kicking My Feet about being so in love that settling into the most mundane routine sounds like heaven on earth, even at 22. The romantic declaration is a sweet contrast to “I Can Die Now,” a grooving record that makes meeting his girlfriend his sole purpose in life. “I found you, I can die now,” he sings over spirited guitars. “I know that it’s fucked up, I don’t want to/Nothing more for me to do than be around you.” The dramatic track plays up theatrics he usually avoids. “Every time I write a love song that’s clearly about her, I play it and she’s like, ‘Ew, turn it off,’” Ruel says. “Once I kept writing more and more, she got used to it and that made me get used to it.”
Ruel hid most of that devotion in the shadows while making his debut album 4th Wall, released in 2023. At the time, he’d gotten “pretty good at dissociating my career from myself and the brand of Ruel,” because it helped him compartmentalize his success and manage his mental health. But within that, he got a few wires crossed. “I was definitely dissociating a bit too much,” he says. “Like, ‘I’m an artist, I’m gonna write breakup songs. That’s what artists do.’” The album mirrored the kind of folk-inspired singer-songwriters he loves listening to, like Adrianne Lenker and Elliott Smith. It came at the expense of the more expansive, textured space his voice sounds tailor-made for.
“I was like, ‘I haven’t used my strength,’” Ruel says, reflecting on the record. “What I grew up on and what my voice gravitates to is R&B, it’s the more soulful sounding stuff. I definitely just fell in love with making that music again.” He traded his old references for Eighties R&B, Prince, and Robert Palmer’s Johnny and Mary, and slipped right back into his groove. The standout “When You Walk in the Room,” a bluesy funk track he recorded with hitmaker John Ryan, sounds like a homecoming.
Kicking My Feet opens with “Only Ever,” an impassioned, percussive alternative R&B record that coats his love drunk confessions in silky synths. Julian Bunetta, who worked on the track, sees a clear parallel between Ruel and artists like Justin Bieber and Zayn Malik. “There are certain voices that are pop, but they can be over guitars and also sing really soulfully,” the producer tells Rolling Stone. “That’s what his voice has the ability to do. Sometimes it takes a minute to find the perfect placement, but then when it does connect, it’s massive.”
Ruel also connected with Kenny Beats, who greeted him with the directive, “Let’s make some really classic, timeless soul shit.” The result was “Destroyer,” a piercing confessional written with Dan Wilson. “It’s about a working colleague that I had to get rid of to move on,” Ruel says. In the opening verse and chorus, he sings, “Saving my own life/Made me the murderer of you/But I know I can’t claim it as just self-defense/Protecting the illusion of my permanent innocence/Because who’s guilty is besides the point/It has to be me.” The record had been in the works for five years. “I didn’t realize that I could let people go,” Ruel continues. “It was intense. I felt like I had to let go of a friend to grow. It was really weird, because I was in this position as a 16-year-old, and this guy was like, 40.”
Goodbyes aren’t as bittersweet for Ruel anymore. He’d spent his entire career with RCA, but when Tunji Balogun — who signed him and remained his A&R at the label — departed for his new role as CEO of Def Jam, he knew being there wouldn’t be the same. “We had security with him … that’s so important to have the trust from the heads of the label, and also the trust from the artist,” Ruel says. He told the label, “If you’re not gonna recreate that, then yeah, we’ll have to part ways.” They agreed. “I really respect RCA for that,” he adds. “They easily could have kept me on a shelf for years.”
Ruel left Australia behind around two years ago to settle in Los Angeles when he joined the Giant Music roster. He writes about the thousands of miles of distance on the mournful ballad “No News Is Good News,” framing the disquiet lyrics from the perspective of his mother. “I don’t want much from ya, just tell me you’re alive,” he sings. “‘Cause maybe no news isn’t good news this time.” He admits that he doesn’t call home enough, but when he sent his mom the song, her reaction caught him off guard. “Her response was, ‘I do not care that much, you’re making me sound so pick me,’” Ruel says. “I was like, ‘What the fuck? I thought you’d find this beautiful!’ She [said], ‘No, you’re making me sound like such a fucking crazy mom.”
L.A. is home now, as least for the next five to 10 years, Ruel says. He’s looking forward to seeing how the time unfolds now that the voice in his head saying, “I don’t want it to get any bigger than this,” isn’t as loud anymore. “If everything comes, I’m gonna say yes to it,” Ruel says. “I’m definitely gonna let the music and let the world take me wherever it is, because it’s not in my control at all … I feel like I would drown if I tried to take control of everything in my life.” His sights are set on the present, living between the soul-searching and endearing bliss of Kicking My Feet. He’s only just getting started, but he knows how he wants it to all end.
“The goal is not extreme happiness or extreme success, my goal is to be content, comfortable, and sustainable,” Ruel says. “That’s in everything in my life. When it comes to love, my career in general, or, where I want to be in 15 years, I don’t need the extreme highs that come with the extreme lows. That’s what I learned from writing all of these songs. That’s actually what I want out of all of this — that’s always what I wanted.”
