Ruby Waters Takes a Bite Out of Love and Life in Debut Album 'What's The Point'
JUNO Award-nominated alternative artist Ruby Waters shares her highly anticipated debut full-length album, What's The Point. This new release is a quintessential piece of work Waters has dedicated hours and hours cultivating with the help of her long-time producer, Sam Jackson Willows. The album places the listener in the passenger seat of Waters' life, allowing for the visceral experience of all that she is—good times, sex, rock n roll, car rides, and everything in between. With a sound that is both bold and powerful, What's The Point is a testament to Waters' passion, vibrancy, and relatable insight.
Sharing her personal attachment to the album, Waters expressed, "This album is really allowing me to grow and shed some old skin. I hope it does the same for others. The title What's The Point is just a reminder that we're constantly on a tightrope between the two opposing sides of life, having meaning or having no meaning at all. I think it's okay to walk towards different sides of that tightrope day-to-day, and I think it's good to remember that two things can be true at once. I hope this album feels like a big comforting hug to whoever needs one!"
The record opens with the freeing and soulful "90 to 99." Warm acoustic guitar strums usher in Waters' rich vocals as she narrates her travels and "Lettin' it all unwind me / Leavin' a couple of things behind." In the chorus, she admits to being "overcomplicated" and overthinks all of the thoughts swirling in her head, recognizing that her eyes and the one she's singing to are both dilated. Her voice soars as she sings, "So fuck me / Guess I'll never leave," with heavenly harmonies backing her as she continues on her journey towards "Gettin' me where I need to be."
In the nostalgia and vulnerability-fueled "Bucket," Waters explores the realization of getting older and the idea of coming to terms with things in life you have no control over. Featuring her signature powerful vocals and passionate lyricism, the song's introspective nature reverberates, inviting anyone eager to listen to contemplate the challenges of adulthood and the quest for self-assurance in an ever-changing world.
"Adult Swim" is characterized by just being a fucking hot track. Waters opens the sensual and alluring previously released track with the gasp-worthy line, "Come over for a swim inside me," dispatching this instruction masquerading as a metaphor for the one who ignites her desire. It takes seconds to lay ground for the direct and unapologetically seductive tone alongside the consistently thrumming production. In many ways, the culmination of the "fuck it, why not" attitude, underpins much of her texturally diverse and thematically boundary-pushing discography. While perhaps lacking the canonically Canadian politeness most would expect, the track's overt sexuality and openness to feel is a refreshing embodiment of today's increasing sex positivity.
"Sour Patch" balances being playful yet serious with the highs and lows of being in a blossoming romance and falling in love in sweet harmony with the music. There's also a hint of fiery lust in the production's underbelly, with sexy rhythms intertwining with the gritty, perfectly synched-up drums and bass. Her lyrics detail a sense of intense desire as she shares that she's heard that her love interest has "the smoothest, sweetest tasting lips... Like cotton candy mixed with Sour Patch Kids." Waters' husky vocals, dirty guitar riffs, rumbling bass, and hard-hitting drums add to the potency of the song, especially leading into the climactic hook.
The album's closing track "Droppin Out" is the project's magnum opus, with Waters' declaring to the masses, "There’s no point anymore / I’m way past it." Mellow guitar riffs frame her delightfully emotional vocals as she describes the state of herself. Proclaiming that she "Flew too close to the sun / A lotta lost brain cells in my head," she struggles with the repetitive restlessness that she deals with on a daily basis. Crooning over the sunny yet forlorn production, she regrets the mornings she woke up next to people she didn't know and wishes she could instead wake up next to her true love and find out who she really is. In the chorus, she realizes that there's only so much internal bandwidth she has, and like many, "can’t, decide what I want to be filled with" ultimately begging the ether, "Come and empty me out, so I can start over."
Listen to What's The Point below:
