Ruth Radelet: Stranger

Los Angeles-based artist Ruth Radelet announces her debut EP, The Other Side, out October 7th. Best known for fronting the influential and beloved group Chromatics, Ruth solidifies her next chapter as a solo artist with The Other Side. Written over the course of two years and recorded with friend and producer Filip Nikolic (formerly of Poolside), The Other Side showcases Radelet’s timeless voice and classic take on songwriting. Following the single “Crimes,” “her ethereal and poignant debut” (Gorilla vs. Bear), “Stranger” is a love letter to LA. The stark black-and-white video, directed by James Manson and shot on 16mm Kodak film by Freddie Whitman, features Ruth exploring the city alone. “Stranger” is about a specific kind of loneliness that I have only felt in Los Angeles. Although the song is very much about longing, it’s more about a place than a person,” she elaborates. “The lyric ‘I could never hold you in my hands’ is about the feeling of always being on the outside looking in, of the city never fully opening its doors to me.”

 

Ruth Radelet: Stranger
Photo by Jake Bottiglieri

Exploring themes of love, death, and rebirth, “The Other Side represents a side of my personality as an artist that most people haven’t seen until now,” explains Radelet. “It also represents my coming out the other side of a traumatic experience, gathering what I could from ‘Before’ and figuring out how to exist ‘After.’ This record was forged in the fire of a transformative two-year period during which I lost almost everything, including my father who was a huge influence on me. Most of the songs were written just before I was caught up in a storm of big changes, and they were all finished just as life started to feel sweet again. It feels right to share some of the last chapter before moving into the next, and though it’s a melancholy record, for me The Other Side is a step into a bigger and brighter future.”

Ruth Radelet: Stranger

Radelet is a singer, songwriter, and musician with diverse influences ranging from Joni Mitchell to Frank Ocean. She has been performing and releasing music for over a decade since joining Chromatics in 2006 for their acclaimed album Night Drive released the following year. Chromatics’ music and aesthetic has notably been used in numerous films, television series, and fashion shows. The band appeared on screen in multiple episodes of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return while Radelet was recently featured on a Chromatics’ 2020 remix of the Weeknd’s #1 hit single, “Blinding Lights.”

 

 

Ruth Radelet: Stranger Lyrics:
[verse 1]
velvet night, it’s dark and lonely
city lights are the only thing inside
you’re the only thing that’s right
fast cars and your driver make me feel so alive
i turn the wheel, i made this deal, don’t take the deal

[chorus]
baby, i’m so far away from home
baby, you could bury me in stone
i could never hold you in my hands
i know i’m a stranger in your land
[verse 2]
silver moon, chase tomorrow
nothing left you can borrow
don’t be proud, hide your face behind the clouds
angel wings are broken, you have not truly spoken
to the ones whose pointed guns have set the sun

[chorus]
baby, i’m so far away from home
baby, you could bury me in stone
i could never hold you in my hands
i know i’m a stranger in your land

[instrumental outro]