Ruination Record News Today

This week's new releases include the latest albums by Bat for Lashes, Arooj Aftab, Maya Hawke, King Hannah, and more.

Next month, Vermont-based singer/songwriter Hannah Frances is set to share her third full-length album, Keeper of the Shepherd. She debuted in 2018 with her album, White Buffalo, followed by her 2021 effort, Bedrock. Her latest record finds her once again evoking the progressive and avant-garde strains of folk, crafting tracks that churn with hypnotic acoustics, densely layered arrangements, and a wondrous lyrical voice.

Next month, the Brooklyn harpist and songwriter Kitba is releasing their debut album. We’ve heard “My Words Don’t Work” and “Tied To Strings” from it so far, and today they’re offering up another single, the punchy, soaring “Peel Away The Rind.” “This song poured out of me inexplicably one night during the depths of the pandemic while sitting at the counter eating a blood orange,” Kitba said in a statement, continuing:

In 2020, Brooklyn-based harpist and singer/songwriter Rebecca Kitba Bryson El-Saleh debuted under their solo moniker Kitba with their EP, Break Through Arrive Here. Prior to their work as Kitbah, El-Saleh trained as a classical harpist and contributed to records from indie singer/songwriters such as mmeadows, Cassandra Jenkins, and JG Thirlwell.

A few weeks ago, the Brooklyn-based songwriter and harpist Rebecca Kitba Bryson El-Saleh announced their eponymous debut album as Kitba, which will be released toward the end of July. They shared lead single “My Words Don’t Work” from it at the time, and today they’re back with the album’s second single, “Tied To Strings.”

Rebecca Kitba Bryson El-Saleh is a songwriter and classically-trained harpist that grew up in Houston, went to school in Toronto, and now lives in Brooklyn. Over the years, they’ve played with Cassandra Jenkins, mmeadows, and JG Thirlwell, and back in 2020, they released the EP Break Through Arrive Here, El-Saleh’s first collaboration with producer Zubin Hensler, a name you might recognize from his frequent work with Half Waif. El-Saleh teamed up with Hensler once again for their deb...

The third solo album, I Cant Sleep, from Ian Wayne is a low-key masterpiece that embraces classic pop with plenty of odd, disarming musical gestures.