Ruth Goller Releases Otherworldly Debut LP 'SKYLLUMINA'

Ruth Goller — an Italian-born, UK-based musician praised for her “thunderous bass-guitar hooks” (The Guardian) who has performed with the likes of Alabaster DePlume, Shabaka Hutchings, Bex Burch, and Damon Albarn — releases SKYLLUMINA, her debut album for International Anthem, with focus track "Next time I keep my hands down (featuring Jim Hart)."

This music, featuring de-tuned bass and overdubbed vocals, is otherworldly and defiantly unclassifiable — far-out sibilant ice age siren songs that haunt like something conjured in a fever dream starring Björk, Meredith Monk, and Mike Watt. 

Expanding on the wholly original sound Goller established with her 2021 album SKYLLA – i.e.  compositions of detuned bass under a spectra of soprano voices she arranged and overdubbed herself – SKYLLUMINA complicates matters as she augments every piece with a different drummer.

A list that includes Skinner, prolific British player Seb Rochford, fellow International Anthem recording artists Bex Burch and Frank Rosaly, her longtime Vula Viel counterpart Jim Hart, and more, Goller's drummers each take a completely approach to complementing her music. Some use inventive applications of traditional drum kits; others bowed vibraphone, or gongs, sanza and llimba.

As Goller elaborates: “I love playing with drummers and I decided to focus this work on my close connection to that instrument and the amazing people I've met in my life who play it. I started getting a list of drummers together that I wanted to be on the record and it was huge. I had to limit myself.”

Throughout its 44 minutes, SKYLLUMINA uncovers a staggering sense of possibility — not only sonically, but emotionally. Says Goller: “This record is a deep insight into my soul and my recent life. It's coming through a meteor storm and grasping the first light. Coming out of a very unexpected tumultuous time. There are a lot of feelings of grief, loss, hope, pure love, connection to my home, death, and new configurations — as well as self-discovery.”

In the video for what was the first glimpse inside the album as well as its lead single “Below my skin” — which features Tom Skinner (The Smile, Sons Of Kemet) on drums — Goller, donning a skull mask, is cast against bleak blue-hour landscapes in coastal England. It's a mesmeric entry point into the world of SKYLLUMINA. Watch the “Below my skin” video, created and directed by Zak Watson, here.

Ruth Goller is a bassist, vocalist, composer, environmentalist, and solo artist who is one of the low-end pillars of UK's creative music community. She came up as part of the beloved punk-jazz outfits Acoustic Ladyland and Melt Yourself Down, establishing herself as an in-demand bassist. Her credits speak to a malleable collaborative spirit and authoritative artistic instinct. She's worked with everyone from modern jazz trailblazers like Sons Of Kemet, Marc Ribot, and Alabaster DePlume; veritable rock stars like Paul McCartney and Damon Albarn; and a startlingly diverse array of acclaimed songwriters, folk artist Sam Amidon, Malian singer Rokia Traoré, and Serbian pianist Bojan Z.

Her 2021 album SKYLLA found Goller returning to the pure untaught instincts that drove her as a teen punk musician. She revels in exploratory uncertainty, undertaking fresh tunings for each improvised composition. As Goller puts it: “at that point muscle memory doesn't work anymore so I have to trust my ear completely.” 

The Quietus described SKYLLA as “an entwining of bass and voice that feels like pure science fiction,” while the BBC praised its “lush textures to bathe in.” The Guardian commended her “rounded tone and springing attack that constantly underpins the musical shape and character” and summed it up as “a deep experience.” ECM Reviews remarked that the album plumbed “an intimacy so deep it felt almost blasphemous to be privy to its wonders.”

Photo by Zak Watson

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