THOSE who have had their wits about them over the last few weeks will have noticed the name Ruby Gaines imprinted on several walls around Glasgow in a splash of bright blue and orange. A vibrant addition to the city’s ever-growing music scene, today the singer arrives in full technicolour with the release of her eagerly anticipated debut single ‘Cardamom’.
Ruby Gaines is the bold new project of singer-songwriter Megan Airlie, previously known for singles such as ‘Honey’ and ‘After River’ and winning ‘Best Acoustic’ at the SAMAs in 2018. After recently teaming up with newly formed Glasgow-based label and management outfit ICEBLINK LUCK, co-founded by Stina Tweeddale (Honeyblood) and Robert Kilpatrick (Scottish Music Industry Association), Airlie has unleashed new creative inspiration through her Ruby Gaines persona with ‘Cardamom’ marking her first turn in the spotlight. With her timeless, delectably smooth vocals sitting front and centre of the track, she channels definitive influences such as Billie Holiday and Fiona Apple, evoking strong feelings of longing and desire against a jazz-influenced instrumental that builds to a soaring, emotional climax. Produced in a renovated church in Galashiels in order to give it a distinctively raw and improvisational feel, it’s a striking amalgamation of the old and the new; a refreshing addition to the city’s ever-evolving soundscape.
She said “Cardamom’ came sweetly to me in the early hours. It felt like I had finally solidified the newness of my sound and being that I’d been trying to encompass. It felt like metamorphosis and I was elated to leave my old skin behind and journey deeper into the sound and taste of this new musical direction (which I feel runs parallel to my own personal development). I wanted to deliver saccharine feelings similar to the weightless mornings felt after a night of love and contentment”
