Around these parts, Ruby Rose Fox and her music need no introduction. But the ones who do are folx like Sheila and Franklin, two fictional characters that are part of a larger narrative and world-building across the once-Boston, now Nashville-based singer-songwriter’s forthcoming third album, Carpetbaggers.
We get the introduction of the aforementioned pair in “Franklin, Do…”, the cinematic first art-pop single from the album that has a glossy gravitational pull that demands repeated listens. A post-disco, synth-spun twirl across a jazz n’ soul landscape of diners and cafés, “Franklin, Do…” was produced, engineered, and mixed by Chicago/Nashville-based producer Colin Sipos, who co-composed the track with Fox.
“Yes, there will be some dark, brooding music to come, but after the pandemic, I really just want to give you all something to tap your foot to,” Fox says via Instagram. “This is from a pop-fiction series of songs of interweaving characters. I wanted to capture the awkwardness of youth in service jobs and those uneventful days where you walk home smelling of food or coffee while harboring some awkward or uncomfortable moment. So much more to come…”
And as Fox’s character Sheila sings in “Franklin, Do…”, there’s a lot more under the surface than what’s served up over the counter: “I’m working on myself,” she sings, “I’m working on my mental health.”
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