Live Review: PREMIERE: post-dusk reckons with fate on her new single 'Long Summer'

It's been five years since we last premiered a song from Ruby Smith, aka post-dusk, but she's lived an entire lifetime in that period. Moving from Brisbane, Australia to London and then Berlin, Smith has maintained her creativity, carefully honing her craft and distilling her own experiences into her music. Now, she unveils the first taste of this work with her brand new single and video, 'Long Summer', and we are so thrilled to be premiering it today.

“People don’t want to hear you say everything sucks and that you feel like you’ve lost everything,” Smith said when discussing the inspiration behind the new single. Reckoning with uprooting her life to a new country, and therefore needing to establish a new "home", Smith felt like she couldn't turn to anyone to share her anxieties about once again being in a new place as, on paper, who wouldn't want to move to Berlin? Exploring this sense of uncertainty, of not knowing if the big decision you made was the right one and the absence of the assurance you might expect to feel once you're settled, 'Long Summer' was born.

"You'll have to ask me again if I believe in fate, you'll have to ask me again 'cos everything has changed," Smith sings, almost sighing as she concedes defeat to destiny. No longer feeling like fate was on her side and feeling like perhaps fate took away what she wanted most, she admitted it can be hard to accept fate when it's not working in your favour.

However, this isn't to say that 'Long Summer' is a forlorn, wailing ballad wallowing in the pits of despair. Instead, it's a melancholic-tinged synth-pop smash-waiting-to-happen. With an infectious, thumping bass line, euphoric vocal swells, electronic drums and exhilarating hooks sure to get you spinning and dancing when you hear it, 'Long Summer' almost relishes in the catharsis Smith was able to harness when creating the song itself. Such is the musicality and artistry of the post-dusk project, Ruby remains as unafraid as ever to tell her complicated stories from the peaceful perspective she's reached while creating the very music she then releases. Speaking to not only her authenticity and fearlessness as an artist but also to the strength of her songwriting skills, Smith's music invites you into her world and sounds totally re-energized on this latest release.

Working with fellow Australian Savannah van der Niet for the visuals, the pair shot the accompanying clip in an emptied pool in Berlin, a city Smith has since grown to love. It's not only visually beautiful, it's also so much fun, and adds to the buoyancy and liberation interwoven that comes with acceptance throughout the song.

Inspired by fellow queer trailblazers such as Christine and the Queens, MUNA and The Japanese House, post-dusk has proven the wait has been absolutely worth it with the release of 'Long Summer'. While totally personal, her music is also at once universal in its relatability, and it's honestly exciting to have her pensive alt-electro-pop back in our lives. It's still the same post-dusk we fell for before, but a more evolved, refined and revitalised version, and we cannot wait to hear more. Watch 'Long Summer' below:

Words by Emma Jones

Image: Savannah van der Niet

LISTEN TO NEW MUSIC HERE

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PREMIERE: CONNECTING SPIRITS WITH POST-DUSK’S TRANSCENDENT ‘PDFC’