Liverpool alt-pop duo RUINS shares cathartic, slow-burning track “Burning Library,” a genre-blurring offering that builds on their reputation for emotional depth and sonic nostalgia.
After setting the tone earlier this year with “Low Postcards”, the pair, comprising Lloyd Rock and Nik Kavanagh, are pivoting towards something darker with this new release. Opening with rousing drums and growling basslines, before unfurling into falsetto vocals that hover between heartbreak and euphoria, “Burning Library” walks a fine line between indie pop and new wave, trading gloss for grit in all the right places.
Drawing its inspiration from a quote by band’s favourite author Edmund White: “when someone dies, a library burns,” the track comes to life around themes of grappling with grief, the weight of memory and the emotional aftermath that follows. Speaking of the track, the band explains, “The song was really cathartic and helped me to process losing people in my life.”
Luscious, textured and evocative, the track trades subtlety for impact, as it lingers on your mind, echoing long after the final note fades.
Having have quietly built a reputation as one of Merseyside’s most compelling live acts since their debut in 2018, RUINS continues to carve out a space for themselves led by a sonic signature that sways between nostalgia and reinvention.
