Crowned Lightbringer: New EP From Ruby Darbyshire

If I was bowled over backwards by Ruby’s teaser single last week, its title, Crowned Lightbringer, now also belongs to this five-track EP, released today, and as you might guess, you’re in for a treat…..

There’s so much incredible time, effort and adroitness pouring out of this it’s actually scary how talented Ruby Darbyshire is at such a young age, and in pondering the journey her music will take her. You’re left numb to what to listen to next, in awe, and spellbound by its harmonic perfection. There’s also a general theme of journey, often rinsed in ingenious metaphors, which connects you to Ruby’s world and imaginings, the hallmark of a musician who knows what buttons to press to engage an audience and leave them spellbound.

Ruby’s Scottish roots are displayed in a bagpipe instrumental bonus track, The Spirit of Jenny Whittle, the rest relies on her accomplished acoustic mood-setters, and the ambience is as ever, hauntingly choral, layered with dedication, folk emotive and saturninely uplifting soulfully, edifying a matured Ruby, compared to her debut EP. But if Crowned Lightbringer displays a whole new level for her music, what comes next will be anyone’s guess. It is, in my humble opinion, an EP which needs to be in everyone’s life.

Vocally it’s faultless too, profoundly as guiding as Nina Simone, as variable and soulful as Billie Holiday; comparisons of such high accolades, I know, I don’t know where else to go to balance her sublime vocal range. Lady Nade and Mayyadda the only contemporary likenesses I could fairly credit. Opening with Timekeeper, as deeply emotive as Crowned Lightbringer, chilling and as distant as an autumn zephyr. With a rustic vinyl crackle, Calling Hades captures a timeless acoustic goodness of underworldly Greek gods, with a romantically liberating hopefulness as its theme.

Black Dog has a deeper blues feel, yet sprinkled with northern celtic, spiritually-guiding us away from the omen of solitary, the Gytrash. Ruby is folk, primarily rooted and understanding of it. There’s much to unpick from her beautiful music tapestry here, I’ve only had a quick listen, couldn’t wait for a complete analysis before telling you how fantastic this EP is, but I believe, in time, this might be my personal fave! But hey, the title track follows, and we’ve mentioned this last week, it’s a metaphoric shanty which depicts perfectly where Ruby’s music is taking her and all the demons which might lurk on her journey.

All I know is this should put Ruby not a local circuit map, but on an international stage; I don’t flatter, and if you don’t take note more fool yourself. Listen, just, listen! 

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