Ruston Kelly has released “Waiting to Love You,” the final pre-release offering from his upcoming album Pale, Through the Window, out September 12 via Rounder Records. A sweeping, sing-along-ready love song that transforms a long-shelved co-write into a soaring declaration of devotion, the song was originally written in 2016 with longtime collaborator, Jarrad K, and songwriter, Jon Green. It sat in the vault for years — until Kelly found himself in a place where its refrain finally rang true.
Me, Jarrad, and Jon originally wrote this song to pitch to other artists, but at the time, the sentiment was not something I resonated with. Fast forward, we’re listening to the resurfaced demo, and I’m sitting next to the woman I wrote a lot of this album for, realizing immediately THIS was the missing song that pieced it all together. A kind of capstone statement I’ve never lyrically made before.”
Reimagined with Kelly’s touring band, “Waiting to Love You” swells with pedal steel (played by his father, Tim “TK” Kelly), propulsive drums, and a full-hearted, anthemic chorus. It joins “Wayside,” “Half Past Three,” and “Pickleball” as early highlights from Pale, Through the Window — an emotionally expansive and spiritually grounded collection capturing Kelly’s season of renewal, joy, and hard-won peace.
