Rüfüs Du Sol, or Rüfüs, are an Australian musical group, made up of Jon George, Tyrone Lindqvist and James Hunt. The trio catapulted to global fame in 2016, following the release of their album ‘Bloom.’
The three released their first album, Atlas, in 2013 and debuted at number 1 on the Australian charts. Listeners were drawn to their smooth instrumentals, crooning vocals, and the hint of something dark that lingers through the album. It was with the release of their second album, Bloom, in 2016 that the band really found their sound and worldwide success.
Bloom, which also debuted at number 1 in the Australian charts, takes all the elements from Atlas and dials them up to one-hundred. Heavier bass gives the tracks an edge, shifting their sound from techno to electro-house. Each song feels purposefully crafted and performed. The atmosphere from Atlas lingers, but it is heavier now. This is the perfect album to lose yourself in.
Here is a part of their latest single, ‘Next to Me.’
Reviewing ‘Bloom’:
The album consists of 11 songs and goes for a total of 51:46 minutes. In my opinion, this is one of the best albums to be released by an Australian artist or by any artist in the past decade.
Please listen along to each song while reading through to add to your viewing experience.
Rather than reviewing the tracks chronologically, I’ll be looking at four of their strongest and most memorable songs. These tracks demonstrate the mastery that Rüfüs has over their unique sound and are the perfect starting place when listening to this album.
Innerbloom
Innerbloom is the last song of the album and goes for nearly ten minutes. While the duration scares some listeners off, this would be the song I recommend the most to new Rüfüs listeners. It reached the top five in Triple J’s ‘hottest 100 of the decade’ and is easy to see why.
It starts off with a synth playing continuous chords changing every few seconds. You can also hear forest noises throughout the song’s intro. At the 1:00 mark, a rhythm is introduced over the synth as well as a beat around the 1:20 mark. Finally, they add vocals over the top and the song is in full motion.
As the song progresses, the vocals stop and the listener is left with just instrumental building up. Finally, the beat picks up and has a pulse on every beat, giving the song a more upbeat and active feel. Vocals are also brought back in after this instrumental build.
At the 5 minute mark, the song changes significantly, with all heavy beats cutting until the listener is just left with a xylophone-like electronic beat.
The song continues this change and is back to just synth playing individual notes with a repeated melody underneath.
Now for the BEST part of the song.
At 6:15, vocals return and it sends chills through the listener’s body.
“If you want me, If you need me, I’m yours,” is repeated. It’s impossible not to enjoy this part of the song. This is what the song has been building to for the past SIX minutes. All the elements listened to so far are reaching a crescendo.
The instrumental part starts again and, the song is in full motion with every component now working together. Even the rare appearance of a cowbell can be heard in the background playing triplets. This is the pinnacle of the song and reaching it is almost cathartic. All that the audience needs to do now is bask in the fallout.
As the song begins the outro, most instruments cut out, and the listener is left with synth and vocals. “If you want me, If you need me, I’m yours,” is repeated twice, with more emphasis on the last repetition and the vocals cut out. The song slowly fades out with synth similar to how it started and how it ends. The journey is over.
Hypnotised
The only song in the whole album to feature another artist, Hypnotised is another one of the album’s best. Featured artist, Dena Amy, was born in South Africa but grew up in Australia. She also toured with Rüfüs across their North America tour in 2016.
The song’s start is relaxing and calming, again starting with a wavey synth until the vocals are introduced. The duality of the vocals builds a rhythm for the listener to enjoy as the artists swap in a call-and-response singing style. Tyrone Lindqvist is the lead vocalist, his low and seductive style balancing perfectly with Amy’s lighter tone.
Amy’s pitch perfectly complements. The addition of an egg shaker in the background during the duetted verses adds a groovy edge to the atmosphere.
“You said follow me deeper and down,”
“Our love, cannot believe what we found,”
“I said, look what we found, I said,”
When Tyrone’s vocals come back solo, he keeps a basic melody underneath him and keeps the upbeat melody and rhythm for Amy’s vocals.
The song continues this style of switching verses and then coming together for duetted sections. At 3:45, the beat drops out and the outro begins with just the guitar repeating 4 notes as it fades out.
This song takes the number 2 spot in terms of top songs from the album. It showcases Tyrone’s strong vocals, his ability to easily work with a featured artist, and allows the other band members to build the musical track around their voices. This is a must-listen song from the Bloom album just like Innerbloom.
Be With You
Be With You is another key song from the album, and one of the most popular songs. It begins with small notes played on a synth building until the beat comes in with vocals following soon after.
One of their bass-heavy songs, it is the perfect Sunday sesh song while you’re outside in the sun with friends and a few drinks. Most of the words in the chorus are, “I’ll be with you, I’ll be with you, I’ll be with you, I will be”.
These repeated words over the catchy bass line make it easier for the listener to move their body and get into the rhythm and beat of the song. This song was practically tailor-made for a day out with your mates, relaxing and enjoying the sun.
If Innerbloom sends chills through your body, then this song makes you want to get up and dance along.
Brighter
When you have finished reading this review, I want the first thing you do to be to listen to this album, so I won’t spoil it all. The last song I want to talk about is Brighter. It opens the album and sets the tone for the style and type of music that Rüfüs Du Sol produces.
Just like ‘Be With You, it starts off with soft humming and notes. Vocals are finally introduced at 0:25. Tyrone’s calming voice relaxes the listener while the instrumental underneath builds to the chorus.
The style of music is perfect for dancing and allows the listener to move freely throughout the chorus and the verses. The background ‘ooooh‘s’ underneath the lyrics build a solid foundation for Tyrone to be free with his vocals. Without any heavy beats to interrupt, the listener has the opportunity to enjoy Tyrone’s voice without distraction. This allows Rufus to build to a final drop before the outro of the song begins.
At 3:30, it feels nearly impossible to not be moving to the beat or dancing around. The beat is too good not to. Again, starting the album off in such a manner sets the tone for the album and gives the listener an idea of what to expect from the other songs.
There are seven other songs on the album and they are best explored when you listen to them with no outside influence or interruption.
These four songs from Rüfüs’ Bloom album are some of the best songs that the trio have created. The vocals, rhythm and tone showcase the best that Rüfüs have to offer. I love every song on this album and Innerbloom is my number 1. song of all time for obvious reasons.
There latest album ‘Surrender’ continued their path to becoming global stars and is also a recommended album to listen to after the rest of Bloom. I hope you have enjoyed this review of Rüfüs’ Bloom album, even if it’s your first time or your 100th.
Below is the link to Rüfüs’ home page with information about their new music, tour dates and merch if you are interested in learning more about the Australian music group. In addition, I’ve included their top songs off their Spotify for you to listen to as well.