Ruston Kelly has announced plans for Shape & Destroy, the full-length follow-up to the singer-songwriter’s acclaimed 2018 album Dying Star. On Wednesday, Kelly gave a preview of the project, which is due August 28th via Rounder Records, with the new song “Rubber.”
A meditative ballad that builds from circular, fingerstyle acoustic guitar to a spacious full-band arrangement, “Rubber” finds Kelly trying to address some of the wrong turns in his life and wondering if he has the resilience to regain what’s been lost. “Oh, can I bounce back?/Oh, or just lay flat,” he sings. In the video, two people perform a lovely interpretive dance that meshes with the overall mood and theme.
Kelly once again worked with producer and multi-instrumentalist Jarrad K (who recorded Dying Star) on Shape & Destroy, which also includes the previously released song “Brave” among its 12 tracks. Additional performers on the album include Kelly’s father Tim “TK” Kelly, sister Abby Kelly, and wife Kacey Musgraves.
In the gap between Dying Star and this new album of original songs, Kelly also released the covers album Dirt Emo Vol. 1. That project featured Kelly applying his signature style to songs originally recorded by Wheatus, the Carter Family, and Taylor Swift.
Ruston Kelly – Shape & Destroy track list:
- “In the Blue”
- “Radio Cloud”
- “Alive”
- “Changes”
- “Mid-Morning Lament”
- “Brave”
- “Clean”
- “Rubber”
- “Jubilee”
- “Closest Thing”
- “Pressure”
- “Under the Sun”
- “Hallelujah Anyway”
