Isolation and the Desert Come Together on RÜFÜS DU SOL's New Album

The desert has a mythological appeal, from Jesus traveling it to save the world to the rumors of lost cities in its midst.

Australian group RÜFÜS DU SOL’s new album is inspired by the otherworldly landscape of the desert of California, where they spent a year and a half working on it.

Jon George, who plays the keyboards in the band, explains that this album is different than the past ones because more emotion went into it.

“We’re all going through certain things emotionally throughout the record-writing process and that shapes the feeling of the record in a certain way that feels unique to this album,” George says.

They’ve all experienced a lot since their last record, he adds. From new places to different people to good music festivals, they’ve had all these life occurrences that influenced their journey. 

The band's first release was a self-titled EP in 2011. Their last two albums, Atlas and Bloom, hit No. 1 on the Australian albums chart. The lead single from Bloom, “You Were Right,” off their second album won an ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Award for Best Dance Release.

George claims that dance music influences the band, along with the music that they grew up with in Australia.

“We all had particular types of music we were into growing up and that ranged from rock to house and techno,” he says. “I guess it just depends what you’re exposed to, and we were exposed to all of that in Australia.”

But the band is hard to categorize in a specific genre. Upon listening, many different types of music, like electronic, dance, alternative, and indie come to mind. George describes them as a “live three-piece band” that mixes the world of electronic music with what they knew.

“We really like to play with new ideas with electronic music and then more live and organic sounds,” George says. “We really like to dive into emotion as well … and that’s what we enjoy doing in the studio.”

Their newest album’s name is Solace, which the band says relates to the feeling they had when writing it. To create the album, they had to temporarily isolate themselves from their friends and family back home and put their personal lives on hold.

“Whenever anything felt like too much, [we] really get into the studio and write music and have that cathartic experience,” George says.

Up next for the band is a year of touring. After that they’re going to take stock and see where they’re at, but George says that first and foremost, they’re excited to get back on the road and have a good time.

“We’re trying to create a moment on stage for ourselves where we’re having the most fun we can have every night."

RÜFÜS DU SOL. 8 p.m. Tuesday, October 30, at The Van Buren, 401 West Van Buren Street; thevanburenphx.com. Sold out.