Try not to listen to Alive by Rufus du Sol from start to finish. Go on, I dare you.
The first single from the electronic trio's new album Surrender encapsulates what Rufus du Sol is all about. They want you to feel something when you listen to their music. To surrender to it. With its ebbs and flows, steady build-up in tempo, and the raw honesty of its lyrics, Alive is an emotional, melodic reminder to appreciate life, especially in difficult times.
It also makes you want to get up and dance.
Sydneysiders Jon George, James Hunt and Tyrone Lindqvist formed the band in 2010, united by a passion for electronica bands like Chemical Brothers and Royksopp. Their debut album Atlas (2013) was followed by Bloom (2016), both of which topped the Australian music charts. Then came the Grammy-nominated Solace (2018), which cemented Rufus du Sol's reputation as one of the finest contemporary electronic bands in the world.
Rufus du Sol cut their teeth at Coachella in 2016, returning in 2017 and 2019. They have since played at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits and Electric Forest, and were the highlight at Red Rocks in Colorado this year.
These days their shows sell out in a matter of minutes anywhere in the world.
Now based in Los Angeles, Rufus du Sol just released their fourth studio album Surrender and it is sitting comfortably at No.1 on the ARIA chart. Surrender, like the band's previous albums, captures a moment in time for the band, both as individuals and as a group. It also demonstrates a commitment to the concept of an album, rather than a collection of radio-friendly singles.
"We've had advice from people we work with to push a single here or there but we really feel strongly about completing an album," Hunt said.
"That's the format we grew up with and it's something that is really special to us. We are creating a world that the songs live in, where they live in relation to one another. You play the album and you get locked in, immersed, and taken on a journey."
The band has famously adopted a clean-living lifestyle after years of late nights and partying. Surrender reflects this.
"Making a record is kind of like making a time stamp of where we're all at in our lives, and for us, even before before the pandemic hit at the start of last year, we were going through a lot of change as individuals," Hunt explained.
"With Atlas and Bloom we were a lot more wide-eyed, we were hungry and ready to conquer the world. With Solace and now Surrender there is more of an acceptance of the light and the shade in our lives."
The word "surrender" struck a chord when they were discussing potential album names.
"It felt poignant to us in terms of embracing change," Hunt said.
"We changed the way we approached writing, the way we approached touring. There is a lot more balance on this record. On the last record we were up until 6am every night; we were ignoring the rest of our lives. We finally tackled that on this record. With this record.
"We found a sense of balance and a sense of health in an industry where that is not very prevalent. As individuals and as a band we were forced to do that and it's really amazing how our lives have changed.
"We're in a really good place now and it's a really nice way to coexist with each other as bandmates and to write music and create."
Surrendering to the process of change was "really powerful", he said, and "allowed us to create what we created".
"We definitely wanted to have a sense of positivity on the album balanced with the darker side of things on the spectrum - it felt like a true and authentic representation of us, the light and the shade," Hunt said.
"There are some songs on there which are about healing, like the title track Surrender. Alive was an important first song to come back with, sort of like a mission statement, that there's light at the end of the tunnel. A sense of hope.
"Last year, when we were in the thick of lockdowns here in LA, it was very helpful for us, very cathartic, to go into the studio and get lost in creating music. It was kind of a gift to have so much time and no real deadlines.
"We really love trying to make our music have a sense of place and when we write it we like to escape for a bit, and it's really cool that we are able to give other people the same experience that we had ourselves."
