The Weakness

Ruston Kelly

Released on 4/7/23 by Rounder
Main artists: Ruston Kelly
Genre: Pop

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Since its 2021 release, Kacey Musgraves' Star-Crossed has been deemed a divorce-record classic. Now, we get to hear the other side of the story—and some of the songs are even better than hers. Musgraves' ex-husband, Ruston Kelly, may not be as famous but the singer-songwriter is poised to make a mark with his third album, done in a lyrically laid-bare, sonically layered emo-Americana style that suits him well. (Kudos to producer Nate Mercereau, who brought along the anti-trend creativity he's applied when working with Leon Bridges and Maggie Rogers.) The shimmeringly produced and catchy "Hellfire" is a particular standout, ready to be embraced by broken hearts everywhere. "If hellfire's screaming like a sin/ Through the healing/ What's the feeling that you get/ When you're dying?" Kelly sings. It's at once Band of Horses earthy and kissed with Martika-esque '80s synth, and it sounds great. So does the title track opener, which builds to a dramatic bridge, Kelly's voice not exactly cracking so much as striving to reach for some higher place: "Just let it go and it all will end." When he wails, "Fuck that guy he's just a piece of shit," it's unclear if he means himself or Musgraves' new love, and it cuts so well both ways that it doesn't even matter. There are moments of cataloging the wounds (the almost spiritual meditation of "Cold Black Mile") and tracking what caused it all, on the swooning "Let Only Love Remain." Kissed by mellotron and the spirit of Kris Kristofferson at his sad-bastard best, that track is stark and otherworldly and rough and tender all at once. There's a run of songs that have the mid-to-late '90s feel of rootsy alt bands like Counting Crows (the excellent "St. Jupiter") and Better Than Ezra ("Breakdown," "Holy Shit") and also make you realize that, in the wake of Zach Bryan, there's a real place for that. Kelly, a recovering addict, finds liberation in the funny-ha-ha "Michael Keaton"—"It's 3:35 in the morning/ And I thought/ CBD would not get me high/ But here I am/ Thinking what if Michael Keaton/ killed himself in Multiplicity/ Would that be genocide?"—and the idea that it's better to be alone than to have to talk to someone else about your breakup. "I didn't want to make a divorce record, but it was important to say what I needed to say while also making sure to protect her heart," Kelly said. Thank goodness he gave in. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

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The Weakness

Ruston Kelly

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