ARIA-winner Ruel on his long-awaited debut album and accidentally getting ‘kidnapped

ARIA-winning Aussie pop-star Ruel opens up on how his video shoot in Manila took an unexpected turn.

The panic was real when Australian pop star Ruel was “kidnapped” during a guerrilla video shoot in Manila. And his abduction wasn’t at the hands of hysterical fans.

The 20-year-old pop star was on a brief tour there two weeks ago – his first gigs in four years – and his team took the opportunity to film scenes for a song called Sitting In Traffic because the city has hectic car congestion.

Ruel was propped in the back of a ute, posing for a drone shot, when an ambulance with sirens wailing pushed through the traffic surrounding the vehicle.

And once it cleared the snarl, the driver of the truck took off down the highway behind the ambulance, with the pop star captive and bouncing around in the back.

“I see Nate my manager watch me being driven away, I had no idea who was driving, I didn’t have my phone on me and for about 10 minutes, I’m knocking on the door but the dude driving down this bumpy Filipino highway is listening to music or something,” Ruel says.

“The ute finally stops so I get out of the back and sit in the front and he’s looking at me like ‘What’s going on?’ – he didn’t speak much English – and I’m like ‘Can you take me back?’ “Finally Nate calls the driver’s phone and we went back and did the filming all over again.”

Sitting In Traffic is a track on 4th Wall, one of the most anticipated debut records in Australian pop.

Ruel is finally releasing his debut album, 4th Wall. Picture: Michelle Grace Hunder / Supplied/

Ruel couldn’t resist messing with eager fans earlier this week – and some were not happy about it – when he tweeted a joke about shelving the release of the album.

“Can’t wait to get to release day then postpone it again indefinitely,” he posted.

The 20-year-old singer, songwriter and performer was determined to take his time with his first album after issuing three critically acclaimed and wildly popular EPs.

Since launching his prodigious talent to the world at the tender age of 14 with debut single Don’t Tell Me, the musician achieved gold or platinum sales in Australia with 10 of his songs and generated more than two billion streams.

He has an enviable consistency for making soulful R&B hits with his tight-knit team of collaborators, his expressive voice and love of retro pop sounds carving him a distinctive lane as a teen artist.

But for 4th Wall, he wanted to change things up again. During the pandemic he fell in love with the music of Jeff Buckley and Phoebe Bridgers.

“I was so wrapped up in the whole R&B, soul-pop world, that was all I listened to when I first started writing music,” he says.

“Then during Covid, I was stuck in my room with an acoustic guitar and I started listening to folk music, more singer songwriters and rock, and everything changed for me. This music made me feel more than anything, it made me more inspired than ever before.”

He also drew inspiration from 90s films with The Truman Show giving birth to the 4th Wall concept for the record and its accompanying visuals.

Ruel on the red carpet of the 2022 ARIA Awards at the Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park. Picture: Jonathan Ng

In an era where content is king, and he is a native of the social media-driven music landscape, Ruel creates videos for almost all of his songs.

And each stars Ruel, the artistic persona he views as a character rather than himself.

“I want the album to be (about) the human experience, whether than comes from my personal experience or other people’s perspectives,” he says.

“I also dissociate from the artist Ruel because I like to look at myself as a character when I’m doing work, otherwise I don’t really cope if that’s me who’s out there on stage doing the hips and the dances and the singing … that kind of wigs me out.

“I like to make that a different person so when I’m hanging out with my mates, I’m not that guy. Even though I really am.

“The idea of the 4th Wall is that feeling like you’re in a movie and everything’s about you.”

He and his family drew a barrier between Ruel the artist and Ruel van Dijk from the moment the then 12-year-old’s demo tape landed with mentor, producer and longtime collaborator M-Phazes in 2015.

So Ruel was able to enjoy the teen rites of passage like a schoolies trip, and maintain his love of sport, signing on to football and basketball competitions near his home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

And he never talks “work” with his friends.

“Everyone has amazing things going on … so when we all get together, everyone is talking about work,” he says.

“So the weird thing is I never talk about work with my friends and I love that because I love to go to them when I’m home for a few weeks and act like I did just leave school and talking about going to uni or something.”

The 4th Wall is out today. Ruel’s world tour kicks off at Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane, April 14; and heads to Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide, April 15; MCA, Melbourne, April 21; Fremantle Arts Centre, April 22 and Aware Super Theatre, Sydney. April 28.

https://www.secretsounds.com/tours/ruel-tickets-2023/

Originally published as ARIA-winner Ruel on his long-awaited debut album and accidentally getting ‘kidnapped