They're back: Listen to RÜFÜS DU SOL's enchanting, returning single, Alive

14 July 2021 | 7:00 pm | Hayden Davies
Originally Appeared In

The winding, five-and-a-half-minute journey marks RÜFÜS DU SOL's first major single since the arrival of Solace, back in 2018..

If you're clued into the world of RÜFÜS DU SOL, you probably could've guessed that new music was on the horizon. As we shared a couple of days ago, the Australian trio began to make quiet noise with the release of a series of posters across the world, teasing a forthcoming release titled Alive and directing people to their website, where a glimpse of the song laid alongside a message: "We're back."

As it turns out, the posters were indeed pointing towards the release of a new single titled Alive, and its arrival today marks the first major new material from RÜFÜS DU SOL since the release of their last record Solace in 2018. Since the release of Solace, however, the boys have kept busy. They've shared a remix of two for pals including Lastlings and Foals; shared a full remix accompaniment of Solace which included their own VIP mix of Eyes; released a live album recorded at Joshua Tree and, amongst all of that, have kept busy with their own label venture Rose Avenue Records too.

Today, however, makes the re-arrival of RÜFÜS DU SOL as they continue to hit new peaks; their returning single Alive being a cathartic return that captures the heights of the trio as they enter yet another new era. Alive feels like an evolved form of classic RÜFÜS DU SOL, with the transcendent and otherworldly storm of synth and percussion capturing the forward-thinking electricity of RÜFÜS DU SOL as well as how they're able to create meaning just from melodies alone; a rich sense of catharticism and hope underlies each dancing rhythm of Alive, much in the same way as they do in a song like Innerbloom, for example.

Frontman Tyrone Lindqvist, however, makes the most of that shimmering sense of hope embedded within the single's melodies, doubling down on it with aching, long-reaching lyricism that feels like some of the most potent stuff RÜFÜS DU SOL have ever done. "It’s a heavier song in some ways, but at its core it's hopeful," says Tyrone on the single, which comes alongside tour dates throughout the US. "We are - all of us - living in this transitional moment right now and we wanted to focus on the hope that the future holds for us all. To focus on the light at the end of this tunnel."

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With Alive and its accompanying tour dates, RÜFÜS DU SOL seem to look forwards to the light at the end of the tunnel, and as they continue to explore depths like these with the beauty and craftsmanship that has become synonymous with the group over the last decade, we can't wait to see what else is in store.

In the meantime, however, take a dive into Alive below, and relish in new RÜFÜS DU SOL for the first time in a long while.

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