Barely a month on from the release of their latest single, “Alive”, RÜFÜS DU SOL have followed it up with their exuberant new track, “Next to Me”.
Showcasing the outfit’s inimitable ability to straddle the dualities of light and dark, “Next to Me” sees the group promoting a level of maturity not quite seen before. Focused on themes of devotion and compassion, it’s a self-described “feel-good” track which stands in contrast to the sort of haunting atmosphere promoted on “Alive”.
“There were a lot more yearning lyrics being put down when we were writing the track, but we felt it didn’t need any of the darkness that you hear on a lot of our other records,” explains Jon George. “We wanted to create something more positive and happy, a kind of homage to the feel-good soul of classic house music.
“I am sure there is part of this that reflects a feeling in our lives and relationships. We wanted to share that with this track.”
“We decided we wanted this to be a simple love song, which is rare of us to do, to create something purely sweet without juxtaposing that with the raw, dark emotions on the other side,” echoes Tyrone Lindqvist.
In addition to the blissful nature of the track, RÜFÜS DU SOL have also paired “Next to Me” with a self-initiated, artificially intelligent visual. Working with Osk (who have collaborated with Kanye West, Google, NASA, and more), the clip harnesses the power of A.I. to share a creation which capturing topographies unfurling and unfolding into reality-defying images that truly need to be seen to be believed.
Much like RÜFÜS DU SOL’s work, it combines feelings of the natural with the manmade to offer up an almost otherworldly feeling.
“We don’t see A.I. as a tool but as a collaborator – one we are in a constant conversation with as we develop new possibilities for its expression and our own,” Osk explains. “New perspectives are always valuable, and although much of the way A.I. operates is modelled on or inspired by us, it has a fundamentally different way of understanding that can reveal new approaches or perspectives we may not have seen.
“Merging artificial intelligence with the existing languages of film, art, music and human expression expands our notions of them all.”
RÜFÜS DU SOL’s “Next to Me” is out today via Rose Avenue and Reprise/Warner Records.
