Rue Royal - Halfway BlindAlbum: Guide to an Escape [2011]
i am so pleased with this album that i had to do a double shot. maybe it's the fact that i'm listening to it during a time when the days are just beginning to get longer, but it really seems to capture an astonishing mood. driven in every sense of the word, ruth and brookln dekker have amassed 80,000 miles on the road in europe alone since the release of their first eponymously-titled LP in 2008. meanwhile, without the backing of a label or manager, between tours the couple has rustled up a cottage industry at their cozy nottingham home. together they’ve printed, snipped, sewed and stuffed 7,500 rue royale CDs. previously living in chicago, the two only started performing together five years ago, inspired by the likes of fleetwood mac, radiohead, grandaddy, and jose gonzalez. ‘guide to an escape’, which got its official worldwide release on march 3rd, retains the acoustic duo’s hushed, evocative melodies but is richer in sound and wider in scope. with the kick of a drum, the strum of a guitar and their mindblowingly perfect harmonies, the duo show a noble, elegant simplicity that harps back to the best of midlake, tunng, fleetwood mac and the swell season whilst most definitely executed in their own, individual style. it was recorded at home between touring and festival dates in summer 2010. “halfway blind” alludes to a struggle to see clearly – figuratively and literally for brookln who’s legally blind in one eye. the album is full of content about self-discovery, embracing the flip-sides of life on the road, and the tussle of uncertainty and hope as dreams are chased. after clocking up over 400 shows in the last three years, rue royale are all about the journey, not the destination. the adventure is theirs, and yours, for the taking.
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