Since the release of SOLACE, the trio have created a brand new live show, bringing a host of new analog gear as well as revamped visuals that continue to bring the magical spontaneity of the group’s studio process to the stage in unprecedented format, pushing their onstage abilities to new levels. The album and film include tracks from all three studio albums such as ‘Desert Night’ from ATLAS, ‘Innerbloom’ from Bloom, and ‘Underwater’ from SOLACE. RÜFÜS DU SOL’s latest release Live from Joshua Tree, is both a live album & film that was recorded in the Joshua Tree desert.
With the band’s third studio album, they earned two Grammy Awards nominations for Best Dance/Electronic Album & fan favorite ‘Underwater’ for Best Dance Recording. The Australian three-piece, comprised of members Tyrone Lindqvist, Jon George and James Hunt, have released two platinum-certified albums, ATLAS and Bloom, with their third album SOLACEushering in a new chapter for the trio. This is an album made for a huge, outdoor stage under the fireworks, lasers and miles of starry sky in every direction.RÜFÜS DU SOL have emerged as one of the world’s preeminent live electronic acts. Less complex is the banger ‘On My Knees’, relying on the simple refrain “ Looks like I’m on my knees again” over a driving, four-to-the-floor beat that raises memories of being on a throbbing, sweaty dancefloor in the early hours of morning.
Like the desert, RÜFÜS DU SOL songs change in hues, sustaining and releasing tension, so that their natural beauty disguises their inner mechanics. As the volume, the layers of synths, and the interplay of various melodies picks up momentum, the song becomes more like a sculpture, contoured and textured. Oscillating synths entangle with an understated but momentous drum’n’bass beat. “ At least I’m alive, believe me, believe me, believe me,” he croons on ‘Alive’. The trio’s intricate, canny use of synths and echoing atmospherics on this album are lightly reminiscent of Vangelis’ 1982 soundtrack to Blade Runner.ĭespite the haunting atmosphere, the reminders to stay hopeful and to remain with those who love you keep a vein of optimism running through all of ‘Surrender’. His brooding vocals sound otherworldly, both melodic and melancholic in equal measure. The scattered, rattlesnake percussion on ‘I Don’t Wanna Leave’ underpins the lovelorn, falsetto plea from Lindqvist: “ I got nowhere to go, got nowhere to be… I don’t wanna leave right now, so stay with me for one more night“. After their live album and film from last year, ‘Live from Joshua Tree’, the trio remained on location in the state to record ‘Surrender’. The trio have been spending extended time in the sprawling California desert, which makes sense of the spacious atmospherics that are signature RÜFÜS DU SOL. But RÜFÜS DU SOL know the power of house music, with its rich, pulsating percussion and immersive synths, can make even the silliest of mantras sound like euphoric sermons.
It’s full of mantras (delivered by a children’s choir on ‘Make It Happen’) like “ love will change your life, love can make it happen”, feel-good schmaltzy lyrics that would sound false and forced in less adept hands. ‘Surrender’ reads from the same playbook. Their last album, ‘Solace’, was chock-full of big, dreamy, beat-driven house anthems. It’s not a difficult formula to grasp, but the journey never loses its impact.
What RÜFÜS DU SOL – Tyrone Lindqvist, Jon George and James Hunt – do is gently draw you in, build a massive, multi-layered climax of beats, vocal harmonies, synths and instrumentals, then allow the waves to subside into stillness before doing it all over again.
Staples Center has a capacity of about 20000, which means it will probably be a big show if RUFUS DU SOL is performing there. Otherwise, it might also be at Hollywood Bowl or The Greek Theatre. These three repeating notes are deceptively understated, but they lure you in and once they’ve ensnared your attention on ‘Next To Me’, it is hard to escape. The Australian three-piece, RFS DU SOL, makes a return to Las Vegas with support from. If RUFUS DU SOL is on tour and making a stop in Los Angeles, there's a strong possibility the show will be at Staples Center. A simple, almost ghostly, piano melody opens the fourth album from Los Angeles-based Australians RÜFÜS DU SOL.