Rough & Ready (Vinyl)

Since his debut on Paul Institute in 2017, Ruthven has gently unravelled his unique blend of classic R&B influenced soulful maximalism with careful consideration, and has found himself supporting and touring with Sampha (including a performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk and Later…with Jools Holland), as well as contributing to his latest single, the Little Simz-featuring ‘Satellite Business 2.0’. Away from his work with Sampha, Overmono recently sampled his 2018 single ‘Hypothalamus’ on their single ‘Gem Lingo (ovr now)’, which was debuted on their set with Fred Again.. on NYC’s The Lot Radio back in February. With ‘Rough & Ready’, he leans into classic songwriting while maintaining lush instrumentation to create a portal that traverses decades, touching upon influences from Steely Dan to Prince, and D’Angelo to Kate Bush. The creation of the album came with its challenges, but Ruthven remained committed to making deeply personal and relatable music. The result is an album the rest of us must hear.