From The Artist : The City is about coming to terms with discontentment in a city that can sometimes feel impersonal. It’s also about living in a place that moves really quickly and how easy it is to keep yourself distracted. The lyric “maybe you’re afraid that when it slows, it’ll get heavy,” speaks to a fear of what will come up when we slow ourselves down. I’m just about to move out of Toronto, so the timing for the release of this track feels rather perfect — a bit of an ode to a city that has not always felt easy for me, but has most definitely been filled with a lot of love.
Ruby Randall, former front-woman of the band beau, is a Toronto-based folk-pop singer-songwriter. Her new song ‘The City’ comes from Ruby her second solo EP, set to be released in 2019. Her first EP, ‘Until the Dust Settles,’ was released under Other Songs Music label and received international attention. For Ruby, writing songs helps to get her out of her head and back into her body. It helps her to make sense of things and creates space in her to feel something new.
‘The City’ showcases this intimate introspective songwriting style. Filled with jangly guitars, lush ringing chords, bubbling basslines, and gorgeous harmonies, ‘The City’ is a stunning meditation on what it means to get lost in a major city. There’s a delicate balance within the song, a propulsion that feels bewildering and intoxicating, but one that has a deep focus lens into the narrator’s heart. A perspective that never ruptures. You’re clearly listening to an artist grapple with her place in the world, but the accompaniment gives her message strength, and this positivity creates a distinct memory in the head of the listener.
There’s real depth here. Randall creates an evocative illusion to gets lost in, over and over again.
