Ruby Kendrick is from Athens, Georgia, but Ruby the Rabbitfoot is far from a southern bell. In her latest album, Divorce Party released August 12th, she moves beyond her indie folk pop roots straight into collective pop. These aren’t typical songs you’re going to scream sing with your best friend. Instead her evolved sound provides a heavier, darker back beat. The guitar and drums are replaced with a synthetic base. Her new tone is inspired by R&B, rap, and electronic. The appropriately titled album is centered around heartbreak, but is interwoven with humbling positively. Despite her obstacles of moving beyond emotional distress, Ruby does not play the victim. Ruby the Rabbitfoot explained,
“I want this to be a soundtrack for anyone going through a transition. Even though there’s this connotation of disruption and heartbreak, divorce parties have a celebratory energy. Every person that we love teaches us, so when it’s time to part ways I think it’s beautiful to appreciate everything we’ve gained from the experience. I wrote these songs in a period of separation from a love. I want to release them into the world as a celebration of all that I learned during that time. It’s my Divorce Party!”
Despite the genre shift, she remains true to her songwriter background and captures the complexities of post break up emotions. Her crisper, interchanging sound highlights the drastic contrast of moments of pure hatred to utter benevolence. Following the release of her third album, her tour is predominately east coast and southern focused, but surely this is just the beginning of her evolution of as a rebranded pop artist.