Joburg-born, Naarm/Melbourne-based pianist, guitarist and singer-songwriter Ruby Gill has announced her second album Some Kind of Control will be out on March 28th, but first there’s the bold and anthemic sensual awakening that is her new single Touch Me There.
Touch Me There has been described as Gill’s “most special creation”, marking the moment she came out to herself, finally silencing “the devil that sits on my shoulder, who tries to convince me that I am an angel”.
The songwriter wrote the song on a riverbank with the intention of nobody ever hearing it, and on the recording Gill’s vocals float along a quietly rambling guitar in a piercing self-examination of the things that had been holding her back from experiencing the kind of intimacy she wanted, building towards the freeing admission that “I haven’t been kissing the people I want to”.
It begins slowly, as a quiet confession, but by the time we get to the powerful highpoint Gill’s not holding back about her desires.
Its empowering music video, directed by Bridgette Winten, was shot on analog film at Melbourne’s iconic queer workout and community space Pony Club Gym, and features a cast of lesbian, female, trans and non-binary people working out.
Of the song, Ruby Gill said the ode is definitely a coming out story.
“During the longest dry spell of my life, I came out to myself. The first time I said it out loud was in this song – all that sitting by a river waiting for the truth to come out led to me being honest for the first time about who I was attracted to and what kind of sex I wanted in my life.” Gill said.
“It took almost two years of zero kissing to get to that point of self-knowledge. Not intentionally – everything just felt so wrong and scary after being touched in really unsafe ways before that. I was numb for years, but I finally felt sensation in my body again after writing Touch Me There. It broke me open. I hope it breaks other people open too, whether it’s about queerness or otherwise. You have a say over your love and pleasure.” the singer shared.
The haunting and captivating tune bodes well for Gill’s second album Some Kind of Control which will be out 28th March.
“This record is a coming-out album of sorts – not just in terms of being gay, but also in terms of being an imperfect body, a person in a fucked political landscape, a human with human needs and desires – to be held, seen and respected; it is in some ways a study about who controls what – and where we can have a say over our sex, time, policies and pleasure.” Gill said.
“Even though everything I’ve made has always been in pursuit of honesty, this album is so much more true and reflective of me, and carries a very distinctive voice and set of experiences borne of fighting very hard to accept myself, my body and my place in the world.
“All that facing myself freed me in some ways to be cheekier, looser, gayer and even more raw. I wanted to capture its intimacy by recording it powerfully with Naarm musicians who have helped me see those things in myself and welcomed me into an empowering community where we can figure this stuff out.”
