Awooo by Ruen Brothers

A moonlit journey through isolation and intimacy, Awooo is Ruen Brothers’ fourth full-length album and their second release on Yep Roc Records. An evocative and immersive concept album crafted for misty nights and quiet introspection, Awooo sees British-born, U.S.-based siblings Rupert and Henry Stansall further refine their distinctive sound—a fusion of conceptual songwriting, orchestral grandeur, and folk minimalism.

Raised in the industrial steel town of Scunthorpe, England, the brothers first honed their craft playing old-time rock ‘n’ roll, country, and blues in working-class pubs, developing a deep appreciation for vintage sounds and traditional songwriting. Their breakthrough debut, All My Shades of Blue, produced by Rick Rubin, showcased their knack for fusing golden-era influences. Subsequent projects, including the cinematic Ten Paces, solidified their reputation as artists who create transportive worlds through music.

In 2023, Ruen Brothers moved to Kentucky, bringing them closer to the source of their musical influences, from the Everly Brothers to Jean Ritchie. Settling in Louisville, they found inspiration in the natural world—daily walks through the woods, evenings spent atop local lookout hills, the fading echoes of trains on the old L&N railroad tracks, and the glow of full moons over the city skyline. Here they endured their first bitterly cold winter in years, a far cry from their time in California which led to their 2023 album, Ten Paces. More akin to their homeland of England, these experiences seeped into the writing and production of Awooo, shaping its eerie, atmospheric sound, organic textures, and melancholic lyrics.

On Awooo Ruen Brothers take a more stripped-down yet deeply textured approach, drawing inspiration from Frank Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours and Sings for Only the Lonely, as well as classical compositions and mid-century Americana. Written and recorded in the solitude of winter, the album mirrors the stillness and expansiveness of the season, evoking themes of longing, isolation, and quiet beauty.

Self-produced, arranged, mixed and mastered by Rupert, Awooo follows a meticulous sonic philosophy. The entire album was recorded using a single vocal chamber and consistent effects, ensuring a seamless listening experience. Henry’s vocals—recorded with a vintage ribbon microphone—channel the warmth and fragility of classic recordings. The brothers intentionally rejected modern loudness trends, opting instead for the dynamic range and natural acoustic qualities of classical and orchestrated vocal records. Mixes were tested through Oswalds Mill Audio speakers at OMA’s listening room in Brooklyn prior to mastering.

At its core, Awooo is built on minimal foundations. Many tracks begin with only vocals, a three-stringed acoustic guitar (its treble strings removed to match Henry’s low-register vocals), and a 1930s kick drum. From there, the arrangements expand with carefully placed orchestration, dramatic swells, and cinematic crescendos. Folk-inspired elements, including sea-shanty motifs on “Sticks & Stones” and “Can You Face the Water?” add to the album’s breadth, while “The Cabin on the Hill” showcases sweeping drama and dynamics, and defines the album’s nocturnal atmosphere.

“Late one evening, I’d just finished watching Tarkovsky’s Mirror when Ru sent me the first iteration of ‘The Cabin on the Hill’ with my vocal on it. I remember sitting in my dimly lit lounge, playing the song repeatedly through my speaker system whilst watching the movie back. It felt like a perfect pairing—I felt haunted,” Henry said of the track.

Match strikes were used as a unique source of percussion, conjuring the glow of a candlelit cabin with an impending sense of danger. The song’s climax—surrounding the guitar solo—was inspired by the soaring string and choir swells in Disney’s “Feed the Birds,” a song with similar darkness and an unusual lyrical theme.

The album’s immersive production continues with “Sitting at the Station,” inspired by cold nights waiting on train platforms in northern England. A tannoy speaker vocal at the song’s opening sets the scene, followed by a repetitive kick drum mimicking the rhythm of a moving train. Stick taps, reminiscent of a station clock or fingers tapping in anticipation, add to the song’s sense of monotony and suspense.

“The song was written in all of 15 minutes over a phone call, as if it were jotted on a notepad,” Rupert said.

Rupert’s electric guitar, inspired by Chet Atkins’ version of “Dark Eyes,” introduces a spy-like tension—“like a cat in the night”—as the track places the listener in a liminal space, blending nostalgia with the feeling of quiet anticipation, further enhancing the themes of isolation and transience.

Lyrically, “Desert Showers” is a journey from an awake to dreamlike state, describing the scarcity of beautiful dreams following sadness. Inspired by the brothers’ time living and recording in California, the song captures the enjoyment of the rare rainy days that reminded them of England. Stomps and muted claps create a galloping rhythm, while layered vocals—processed through a Wurlitzer cabinet—swell like water, evoking a sensation of drowning. As the song reaches its final moments, acoustic arpeggios and cymbal swells blossom, sonically embodying the phenomenon of a “desert bloom.”

Awooo is not just an album, it’s an experience—a whisper in the dark, a lone howl at the moon, a deep exhalation in the cold of night. Embracing both the vast and the intimate, Ruen Brothers send the listener on a journey worth taking.

Siblings Henry and Rupert Stansall are from the small industrial town of Scunthorpe, England and have been recording together as Ruen Brothers since 2013. The brothers’ journey has taken them from the ‘£ a pint’ pubs of Scunthorpe to the dizzying heights of festival stages such as Bonnaroo, Glastonbury and Coachella, to performing opening sets for Orville Peck, Nikki Lane and Greta Van Fleet.

ruenbrothers.com
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