Been Meaning To Tell You

It takes a special artist to snatch triumph from the jaws of disaster. Rewind to 2016 and everything was going right for Ina Forsman. The 24-year-old singer had gone from Finland's best-kept secret to Ruf's hottest new signing. Her self-titled debut had wowed the music press, from Classic Rock ("dynamite voice") to Blues Blast ("debut album of the year"). She'd blazed her reputation in the US and Europe on that year's Blues Caravan tour, and couldn't slow the torrent of new songs that flowed from her.

Then fate threw a curveball. While gigging in New York, Ina lost her phone – and with it, every last scrap of new material. A lesser artist would have crumbled. But as you'd expect from a road-warrior who paid her dues under blues heroes like Guy Verlinde and Helge Tallqvist, Ina stood tall, breathed deep, wiped the slate clean and took two more years to pen a fresh batch of songs. "For a long time, I was so angry at myself," she remembers. "But at the end of the day, I'm happy I lost my phone. I lived a little more life – and was able to write better songs with more emotion."

We've had the introductions. Now, on second album Been Meaning To Tell You, Ina brings the listener closer than an old friend, spilling her deepest emotions while surveying the beauty (and beasts) of the modern world. Tracked at Austin's Wire Recording Studio with producer Mark ‘Kaz' Kazanoff and a world-class band, these are twelve songs for life's highs and lows, whether you want speaker-rattling soul for wild nights or a slow-blues for licking your wounds.

"Let the music heal you," Ina advises, "or break you momentarily if you're not ready to get back up yet."