NEW RELEASES: Moments In Between - Ruth B.

 If you have forgotten Ruth B. by now, let me jog your memory of that piano-driven song on the radio a few years back known as "Lost Boy". I was intrigued by the song, but her full album was even better in my mind. I knew it is unlikely she could write Safe Haven twice of course, but the singles from this album made me hesitate a lot as she drove into a slightly more upbeat direction than the indie piano driven nature of her debut. 

The album opens with "Princess Peach", a piano driven song that reminded me immediately of Safe Haven. It seems she hasn't lost it all after all! A sweet love song, I also enjoy the title where she chose to reference long time video game power couple Princess Peach and Mario, although in the song she more refers to not being a princess but being someone's "peach".

I am at a loss why right after song 1 we need an INTERLUDE. My god this whole pointless interlude trend is annoying me. Listen here, if you're gonna make an interlude, they better be as poignant and powerful as Christina Aguilera's "Stripped" interludes or I am giving you a lashing. That's it. That's my rant about pointless interludes to overextend album lengths. 

We switch to more RnB influenced "Holiday". The song is instrumentally nice. It is a smooth kind of RnB. The melody switches kind of irk me a bit. It takes away from the easy listening vibe. She tries to make the music sound very retro while her voice is very 2021 electronics which is also kind of...annoying. The song slowly becomes more grating as it goes. 

"Situation" puts Ruth into a poorly mastered echo-chamber. I'm trying to say this nicely. I am assuming under her voice is a vocoder? Either way TAKE IT OUT! IT RUINS THE VOCALS! Lyrically the song is too forgettable to actually put that much rage into it.

"Sweet Chamomile" is the first really memorable song of this album. It feels like a nice transition. Her voice has more emotion and drive in it. I feel like she actually felt this one. Very good song here.

I am here for the guitar driven ones! Unusual for her but it fits her voice so nicely actually. These for some reason have less production too, compared to Holiday or Situation. Her voice sounds better naturally like this. "Favourite" is just a sweet simple love song and sometimes you just need that simplicity. 

Gosh why did they put her back in that echoey chamber slightly for "Spaceship"? It creates a weird effect on her vocals I don't like. The song is okay. Instrumentally not totally terrible. Thankfully thus far the album has not been nearly as bad as I expected, but my expectations were low with the singles.

Oh there it is, some of the poppier single style songs I was not interested in. I think "Die Fast" represents my brief like for the album between Sweet Chamomile. As in it died fast.

I already know "Dirty Nikes" just about turned me off from the release itself, albeit listening now it isn't as bad as some of the lower tracks. I hate the way she sings the chorus of this song. It just grates me and lacks emotion. 

Well okay I thought I hated it the most until we got to "Moments in Between", where her melody is completely grating and sounds off with everything. 

The album closes with "Share", and in a sense I wish she didn't share most of these songs with us. The song is forgettable at best, like almost every song on this album.

Lyricism: 5/10 - The lyrics are not bad, could actually be good even if she sang them like she was actually in love with the person she is singing about.

Music: 3/10 - When it was good, I saw her potential again. When it was bad, I wondered who said yes to this.

Overall: 3/10 - The album does have Princess Peach and Sweet Chamomile that I would return to. Otherwise, this is a sophomore slump. It sounds honestly like uninspired generic has been done before garbage which actually saddens me. She is better than this. I know she is.