Brisbane singer-songwriter Ruby Flowers has just released her new single ‘Broken Beer Heartache’, and having had the pleasure of mastering it I can tell you it's an absolute beauty of a track.
There's a wonderful melancholy running through this one, and Ruby has exactly the sort of voice to make the most of it. Her vocals are superb, with a tenderness and emotional honesty that I found really quite affecting when I first heard the song. There's nothing forced or overdone about her delivery, she just has that rare ability to make you feel every word she's singing. It's a lovely performance, and one that deserves to be heard by a lot of people.
Ruby's music draws on country, folk and pop, and she's previously released the singles ‘20 years’ and ‘End of Vegas’. She's clearly a very talented songwriter, and ‘Broken Beer Heartache’ is a great example of why. The choruses are wonderfully catchy, but there's plenty of substance behind those melodies too. It's a brilliantly crafted song, with an arrangement that gives the vocal all the space it needs while still finding plenty of opportunities for the band to show what they can do.
And what a band! The playing is excellent throughout but I have to give a special mention to the outro, which is a fantastic way to finish the track. After spending most of the song being rather wistful, everything drops into this fantastic halftime groove and starts building towards an absolutely glorious crescendo, complete with some seriously tasty slide guitar playing. It's one of those endings that makes you wish the band would keep going for another couple of minutes, although I suppose knowing when to stop is part of being a good arranger. Annoyingly.
What I particularly like about the track is how naturally it all comes together. The arrangement is full of lovely little touches, but nothing feels like it's there just to show off. The band know when to sit back and let Ruby do her thing, and when that final section arrives they've more than earned the right to let loose. It's the sort of musical restraint that makes the big moments feel genuinely big, and I always love hearing musicians who understand that.
Ruby is celebrating the release with a live show at Mirrorball Ministries in Brisbane on Saturday 24 October, alongside fellow singer-songwriter Faith Kayrooz. If you're in the area, I'd definitely recommend getting along. I'd be particularly interested to hear that outro live, because if it's anything like the recording, it should be a bit special.
It was a real pleasure mastering ‘Broken Beer Heartache’, and I'm delighted to see it released today, 16 October. Ruby has a beautiful voice, a real gift for songwriting and an excellent band behind her. There's a lot to love about this one, so go and give it a listen!
