Nashville-based ambient composer Rich Ruth has shared "Older But Not Less Confused," the latest track from his ambitious new album I Survived, It’s Over (Third Man Records, August 12). The track is accompanied by a mesmerizing video by acclaimed director Brook Linder (Billie Eilish, Grimes, Spoon, Beck and more). "Older But Not Less Confused" seizes the listener from the first chiming guitar. The track reveals itself to be a floating, mesmerizing post-rock dreamscape, where the production from John McEntire twinkles especially brightly. "Older But Not Less Confused" is available now at all DSPs and streaming services -- hear the track and watch the video HERE.

Mixed by renowned Chicago producer/engineer John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea and Cake, Stereolab), I Survived, It’s Over is now available for preorder on black vinyl, CD and Bandcamp exclusive cassette tape, with indie record store-exclusive light blue colored vinyl coming soon. 

WATCH THE "OLDER BUT NOT LESS CONFUSED" VIDEO

PRE-ORDER I SURVIVED, IT’S OVER

"While writing the pieces that make up my new record, I was spending a lot of time with the album TNT by Tortoise," bandleader Mike Ruth says. "This is most apparent in "Older But Not Less Confused" and why I wanted to bring in John McEntire (from Tortoise) to mix it. I wanted to combine samples, flute, baritone saxophone, and synthesizers together into my own interpretation of psychedelic jazz fusion. Like much of the music on I Survived, It’s Over there is a natural underlying angst, which felt ever-present throughout the time I spent creating it. Brook Linder took the song to a new dimension with his masterful direction on the song’s music video."

WATCH "DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING" VISUALIZER

WATCH "TAKEN BACK" VISUALIZER

LISTEN TO “TAKEN BACK”

Rich Ruth – a.k.a. veteran Nashville-based musician Michael Ruth – took a break from touring with various bands in 2018 and dedicated himself to composing ambient music in his small home studio, focusing on the diverse traditions of ambient, new age, spiritual jazz, Kosmiche, and minimalist music. His ideas became fully realized with the inclusion of additional players, pairing his repetitive, droning synthesizer movements with spur-of-the-moment improvisation to transform the material into something much more lush and unpredictable.

One summer morning, Ruth was held up at gunpoint and carjacked by two people outside of his home. His music allowed him to work through this personal struggle, infusing his 2019 debut album, Calming Signals, with striking layers of angst and emotion. Where There’s Life followed in 2021, a collection of meditative pieces written in the early months of the pandemic manifesting the collective sense of uncertainty and solitude of the time.

Recorded in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic and in the wake of a series of tornadoes that wreaked havoc upon his North Nashville neighborhood, I Survived, It’s Over sees Rich Ruth pushing his music even further into heretofore untapped sonic and emotional terrain. Melding inventive sound exploration, complex instrumentation – from shredding guitars and swelling strings to flutes, saxophones, pedal steel, and more – and a transcendent passion for nature, Ruth has created a milestone work of organic, symphonic power, a deeply affirmative musical movement that transforms the unease and sorrow of this difficult era into something strong and true and beautiful.

“Working on this music is a daily meditation,” says Rich Ruth. “I wanted to encapsulate the tranquility and disarray found within this process.”

RICH RUTH

I SURVIVED, IT’S OVER

(Third Man Records)

Release Date: Friday, August 12

Tracklist:

Taken Back

Older But Not Less Confused

Desensitization and Reprocessing

Heavy and Earthbound

Thou Mayest

Angel Slide

Doxology