Artist: Ruby Alexander
Song: “Undertow”
Album: TBD
Label: Mandatory Music
Genre: Folk, Soul, Classical
Australian folk-soul singer, songwriter, and classically trained guitarist Ruby Alexander released latest single “Undertow” on September 23rd.
Originally written in 2023 during Ruby’s travels across London, Morocco and Berlin, “Undertow” was set to be a classical guitar piece, which is evident throughout the song. The track is written from the moment after a final conversation with a partner, when all the questions finally hit “did you ever love me… did I ever love you… or was I just afraid of losing you” the track tackles everyday moments that became solitude after this person wasn’t a part of her life anymore.
On the meaning of “Undertow” Ruby states, “When we close the door to a room of our past, that room still remains. This song is an intimate whisper about the courage it takes to look back on your own memories – to reopen that door and peer in from a place further along down the line. It’s a nostalgic portrait of a past relationship, loss, and figuring myself out in the aftermath. Amongst the beauty and the good always seems to be a sharp edge of darkness – the ‘undertow’ that we fight against. ‘How will I keep fighting it, now that I am alone? Distance, ambiguity, everything growing blurrier over time, and yet I still cannot bury these memories. Do you remember me like I remember you?’”
The track starts soft, almost as if a lullaby, as Ruby tells us a story of her past love. She stated that opening lyrics and melody, “To name my fears and face them too / And learn what loving’s meant to do without you,” came to her with immediate clarity, changing the song from a classical guitar piece to the song it is now. As for me, the lyrics emphasize the loneliness Ruby must have faced after her partner and her split up, where being in a world without them won’t be filled with love as it once was.
The lyrics took years to be fully fleshed out as Ruby underwent the painfully slow process of looking back through memories, as if sweeping away dust from old pictures on the walls.
“Do you remember me with words?
Do you remember me with pictures on the walls?
I remember it all”
“Undertow” is such a sad yet entrancing song, with beautiful vocal runs, hums, and guitar riffs. Listen now to experience the beautiful storytelling by Ruby via Mandatory Music.
