Back in November, we wrote about ‘Some Kind of Control’, a single from Johannesburg-born, Naarm-based artist Ruby Gill which “explor[ed] the strange blend of agency and restriction experienced during the lockdown period of the pandemic” with a particular focus on the body. “I had been grappling with what it meant to have all and no control over my time and body—all at once,” as Gill explained. It turns out the single was also the title track of Gill’s long-anticipated second album, set for release this spring, which promises to follow these themes further to offer a “cheekier, looser, gayer and even more raw” style.
With the record out next month, Ruby Gill has returned with ‘Touch Me There’. Another single which examines the body in ways both intimate and political, embracing the queer experience both as a means of personal fulfilment and as a wider radical force. This duality is evoked by the interplay between Gill’s searching delivery and the communal backing chorus which sees the likes of Annie-Rose Maloney, Hannah McKittrick, Angie McMahon, Hannah Cameron, Jess Ellwood and Olivia Hally (of Oh Pep!) all lend their voices. The result is the sense of a call being answered. A single voice echoing back as a community. “During the longest dry spell of my life, I came out to myself,” Gill explains:
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. It took almost two years of zero kissing to get to that point of self-knowledge. Not intentionally, haha – 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 track comes complete with a video—filmed, directed and edited by Bridgette Winten, with shoot and lighting assistance by Sophie Christopher—staged within Naarm’s queer workout and community space Pony Club Gym.
Some Kind of Control is out on the 28th March and you can pre-order it now.
Photo by Kira Puru