Ruby Gaines - Cardamon
Ruby Gaines is the bold, powerful and emotive new project of Glasgow-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Megan Airlie.
The birth of Ruby Gaines follows from Megan having previously released three singles under her own name. Megan showcased the depth of her heart wrenchingly poignant song writing and the strength of her timeless voice through the singles After River, Honey and Mother Whale, all released in 2018 via Bloc Music Records.
Heavily championed by the likes of The Skinny, The Line of Best Fit and BBC Radio Scotland, Megan won a Scottish Alternative Music Award in 2018 for ‘Best Acoustic’ and was invited to perform at the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award ceremony that same year to over 800 invited guests.
In 2019 she showcased at industry conferences Wide Days, XpoNorth and Dumfries Music Conference, and since then has been working on the development of her new project.
In December 2019, Ruby Gaines signed to the newly formed Glasgow based label and management outfit ICEBLINK LUCK. Co-founded by Stina Tweeddale (Honeyblood) and Robert Kilpatrick (Scottish Music Industry Association), the company took its name from the 1990 single by the Cocteau Twins, the first single from the ‘Heaven or Las Vegas’ album released on 4AD.
Bringing is up to date Cardamom is the debut single by Ruby Gaines and is released today, Friday 25 September, via ICEBLINK LUCK.
It is produced by Stephen A. Watkins (Amanda Palmer, Carla J. Easton) at MacArts, a former church and now music venue based in Galashiels, Scotland, the single was recorded in January 2020 and was mastered by multi BAFTA and RTS award-winning composer and producer Kenny Inglis.
When asked about the birth of her new project and her debut single Cardamom, Ruby Gaines 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.
Ruby Gaines is definitely a reinvention or perhaps even a reincarnation from an earlier time period for Megan Airlie, Cardamom transports us back to the eighties of late night wine bars with its distinctly jazz/blues melody painting a picture of smoky rooms as the vocalist steps onto the stage to deliver.
And boy does Ruby Gaines deliver, the track really allows her to showcase her full range of vocal ability from rich and powerful to the odd sultry moment, it definitely captures a vibe far removed from our current living climate and it’s 10pm curfews.
My favourite lyrics of the track are the repeated “you smell like Cardamom you left it on my pillow, and that’s why I like the morning”.
Cardamom is a track that will slip into a lot of laid back late evening type playlists and certainly introduces us to Ruby Gaines and her wonderful vocals, this is your late night glass of wine chilling banger for the Autumn nights.
Give Cardamom a stream now:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5STkiqskIoHIyW8xt6tTWj?si=aZfcXmFcT8WukvAbxIJS5g
Ruby Gaines can be followed on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Spotify:
https://www.facebook.com/itsrubygaines
https://instagram.com/itsrubygaines?igshid=skllbndym1ss
https://twitter.com/itsrubygaines?s=21
https://open.spotify.com/artist/01PY0YWXad2RPsjcP21l2g?si=4bgcDg76RY6tPdVMys-wsA
