Ruth Royall’s been a fixture as a vocalist in D&B for decades, featuring on the likes of Shogun, Rampage, UKF, Viper, Liquicity, Soulvent, et al. It would be easier to list the labels she hasn’t been on at this point. In recent years, she’s also been releasing original and collab tracks with her own production and just recently started her own label, Royall Sound. Now, with her first album on the eponymous imprint due to release this Friday, 17 October, the drum and bass mainstay has more than a few tricks up her sleeve.
The major surprise to D&B punters is that Queen is multi-genre, and not just a couple of 140 or 4×4 tracks sprinkled in to the ten-track hitmaker. Drum and bass features equally with techno, house, future bass, trance and more. And why not? Whilst it may be a surprise to her fans, Ruth’s signature smoky, soul-infused sound pairs weill with almost any genre, so exploring different beat patterns and melodies makes sense if she wants to keep that signature whilst also branching out.
An excellent case in point of Royall flexing her beatmaking muscles is ‘Strangers’, today’s exclusive premiere here on the Mag, the last one before the full album drops. Many D&B heads don’t even know what future bass is, but Royall’s created a beautiful entry point into the melodic dubstep sub-genre. Seamlessly weaving her smoky, soul-and-pop-infused vocals and vintage synths into the heavy yet uplifting structure which typefies future bass, this track will have putners hooked before the first vocal hook. ‘Strangers’, amongst many other tracks on ‘Queen’ show that Ruth Royall is not only ready to take on the chellenge of production but that she is more than ready to do some serious genre-hopping.
‘Queen’ drops on Royall Sound on Friday, 17 October. Pre-order on Beatport here or pre-save on multiple platforms here.