Brand New Power is the debut album from Ruby Goon, who have also shared Leech!, the latest track to be taken from the album following Cold Wind.
Formed and led by Ivan Solimani-Leznhev, a strikingly independent and self-determined young singer-songwriter. Colourful and vulnerable, the music of Ruby Goon soulfully blends early psychedelia, glam and indie rock.
These influences were soulfully crystalised when studying in the United States of America. Accompanying his father, a television cameraperson posted in Washington, D.C. Solimani-Leznhev found himself culturally removed from his native Moscow, Russia, yet suddenly geographically aligned with an earnest, melodic legacy of rock, rhythm and blues.
When Solimani-Leznhev eventually returned to his homeland, he set about recruiting seven multi-instrumentalist friends, each tasked with bringing the particular sound in his head to life. Soon, under his visionary direction, Ruby Goon quickly cemented their reputation and popularity as a live band with a unique, magic touch.
Brand New Power, the debut album from Ruby Goon, collects these early works into an impressive volume that documents a body of warm-hearted, mature songwriting blessed with the sort of youthful energy that’s difficult to recapture and impossible to resist; that Brand New Power that gives the album its title.
Ruby Goon initially came into contact with Phantasy courtesy of the music of Connan Mockasin, an influence on Solimani-Leznhev, and certainly Brand New Power reconnects Erol Alkan’s imprint with a specific strain of outsider music. Still, the realm of Ruby Goon thrives in its own progressive atmosphere, equally resplendent with lyrical and instrumental shades of garage rock and jazz that bathe listeners invited into a warm and deeply personal world.
“Being a sound engineer and producer has been my hobby since I was a teenager, and I started writing music when I was eleven-years old”, explains Solimani-Leznhev, prolific since an exceptionally young age.
“Ruby Goon represents something different than what I had been doing before; spacier, calmer and with much more melody.”
“I am more of a social guy now”, adds Solimani-Leznhev, who was until his recent departure from Russia, in the midst of constructing a new studio in Moscow, a finely-tuned shrine to the analogue warmth that characterizes his compositions.
“But when I was younger, I was lonely in America. As a result, I got really deep into researching music history. For example, I would search ‘British Invasion’ on Wikipedia, then make sure to listen to every band listed. I learned the style of the Delta Blues from Youtube, and even beyond that, I was always looking, searching and learning.”
Leech! is out now.
Image: Danila Yakus
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