We had a chat with Camille Ruz about her devastatingly raw and immersive new single ‘Wreath’
You could forgive artists for playing things kind of safe on their debut single, looking to establish their sound and style in a way that feels efficient and succinct, sticking to what they know and staying within their comfort zone to craft something that they know will showcase the best of their abilities.
That isn’t really a concept that Camille Ruz has adhered to on ‘Wreath’, the first single from the UK artist’s upcoming project, a track that sees the artist pushing and testing herself in a multitude of ways. As well as learning to play the clarinet to form part of the track’s lush and immersive soundscape, the artist also poignantly explores her experiences of pregnancy and her subsequent abortion on the track, providing it with a really sobering dose of gravity and emotion, pushing the artist to craft a sound that feels harrowingly raw and real. The end result is a track that we love for its authenticity and the gentle charm of its serene, atmospheric sound, and we had a chat with Camille to find out a little bit more about the distinctively bold new release.
Hey! We love your debut single ‘Wreath’, what more can you tell us about it?
Hi! Thank you so much! This song is the first single from my upcoming artist project which I am so excited to share. The cover art and music video are made by the incredibly talented Emma Friday. Some notable bits about this song are that it is partially recorded on tape, I wrote and arranged the instrumental myself, and I also learned how to play clarinet for this project! It sounds like I’m boasting but I’m just super proud of how it has come together haha.
What was the process like putting it together?
It was such an exhilarating process putting this song together. I first wrote the song and recorded a very dodgy bedroom demo where I just stacked random guitar parts and used one of my face creams to mimic a slide. This helped me get the feel for how I wanted the arrangement to sound. The arranging and recording process of this song was so much fun. The arrangement is super dense with tons of instrumentals. My favourite instruments on the song are the pedal steel guitar, the string section, and the flute (the flute solo always blows me away). My studio/mixing engineer Wes Burton was so patient with me during the process of this song especially during the mixing stage because my mix notes were so obscure and I was so picky about every detail. So thank you Wes if you see this!
What were your biggest influences when creating the track?
For this song my top 3 influences were Jeff Buckley, Fleetwood Mac, and Joni Mitchell. If you listen to ‘Albatross’ by Fleetwood Mac you’d easily hear what the pedal steel guitar part in ‘Wreath’ was inspired by. Mainly though, this song is an ode to Jeff Buckley’s songwriting which the hardcore Jeff fans might notice in the melody, and chords, but mostly the lyrics. I made a playlist attached to my Spotify artist profile of all the songs that influenced this track as well:)
The track is about abortion which is a scarcely referenced topic in music, what made you want to take such a bold stance on your first release?
A year ago, I went through the experience myself and it was incredibly difficult. I remember searching for songs about it online that could somehow help me through it but I couldn’t find anything. All I wanted at the time was to feel understood and like I could relate to another artist. It really made me understand how underrepresented abortion is in the music industry. I wrote a lot of music during my pregnancy and post abortion and that is the topic of all my future releases. It relieves me to release something that may hopefully grace other people who have been through something similar and are looking for that kind of support. It also feels like I have finally come full circle (which cleverly relates to the title ‘Wreath’, representing the circle of life as well as the wreaths we leave on others graves).
What else do you have planned for the near future?
I have a very cool EP coming out in the near future which I can’t wait to release! I am also planning a tour across Europe and the US so lots of exciting things to come!!!
