If the first chapter of Ruel’s second album leaned into melody and heartbreak with a soft glow, the sequel arrives with the lights flickering. New single ‘Hate Myself’, released today, is a sharper, rougher and more volatile proposition, signalling a clear shift ahead of Kicking My Feet & Screaming, due 12 June via Virgin Music and Recess Records.
Stream ‘Hate Myself’ HERE.
Fresh from a surprise pop-up set at HUM Music on Record Store Day, Ruel uses the new track to step outside the polished lanes many expected him to stay in. Produced by Kenny Beats, ‘Hate Myself’ is driven by pounding drums and a distorted synth-guitar line that lands somewhere between alt-rock tension and pop unease.
Crucially, it still sounds like him. Beneath the abrasion sits the melodic instinct that has made Ruel one of Australia’s most successful young exports. His voice remains the anchor, even as everything around it starts to fray.
Lyrically, the song deals in self-inflicted fallout: the aftermath of investing too much in a relationship that never deserved the damage. Rather than frame heartbreak as noble suffering, Ruel leans into something messier, more self-aware and occasionally darkly funny.
He says the song came together quickly after a slow-burn first session with Kenny Beats and co-writers Kenneth Blume and Jackson Morgan. After hours of little progress, one late creative gamble reportedly unlocked the entire track in half an hour. Sometimes songs arrive by design. Sometimes they kick the door in.
‘Hate Myself’ follows previous single Don’t Say That, which crossed one million streams in its first week and earned support from triple j, BBC Radio 1 and major streaming playlists.
It arrives after a strong run for Ruel, including appearances at Lollapalooza in South America, a North American headline tour, a show at Sydney Opera House Forecourt and a win at the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition for ‘The Suburbs’.
