For the past 15 years Rüfüs Du Sol have been Australia’s most successful alternative dance and electronica bands, with their debut album “Atlas” (2013) reaching number 1 on the ARIA charts, an achievement also reached by their second album, “Bloom” (2016), with the third album “Solace” (2018) reaching a paltry number 2. Their fourth album, “Live from Joshua Tree” (live album and studio film), peaked at 14, but their fifth album, “Surrender”, returned to the number one position. Their sixth album, Inhale/Exhale (2025) reached number 3, with the three core band members (Tyrone Lindqvist, Jon George, and James Hunt) and no less than eight additional musicians and vocalists.
It is testament not only to how extraordinarily important Rüfüs Du Sol have been to the Australian music scene for many years now, their international recognition (e.g., headlining at “Festival musique et arts Osheaga”, “Lollapalooza”), but also to the impressive performance of electronica music in this period. Further, doing this often through with independent (Sweat It Out, Foreign Family Collective) and quasi-independent labels (e.g., Reprise Records) is no simple achievement either, as well as their own label Rose Avenue Records.
For fans of Rüfüs Du Sol, Inhale/Exhale is not a dramatic departure from their earlier work. The album (with rather beautiful floral cover art) comes with a fairly consistent up-tempo and driving beat throughout with progressive and conjunct melodies with consonance. Lyrically, like many others of their ilk, the album doesn’t delve deeply into complexities. The opening track, “Inhale” is a lightly euphoric song of optimistic love, and matches well with the most popular single from the album, “Music is Better” which speaks of a simple statement of connection, but also notably with viola and violin. It is worth noting that this was the only single from the album from the four that were released, that charted at any notable position. This is unlike a lot of their earlier albums that would have at least one single that would receive at least platinum certification.
This by no means suggests a weakness in Inhale/Exhale, but rather it is a strength; the album is, in fact, greater than the sum of the parts. The ensemble supervenes the components, and engages in content a fair bit of content juxtaposition as it narrates a wider tale. Whilst the musical tempo remains relatively consistent throughout the 58 minutes and 15 tracks (a perfect length and style for those who like to listen to such music when combined with vigorous exercise), it is notable that the lyrical content takes a turn from about “Break My Love” onward. That particular tracks makes actually quite good use of the tidal metaphor where one party remain stubbornly consistent and other ebbs and flows.
From that point, the story unfolds in an attempt to capture precious points in time (“In the Moment”), the conflict with disappointed acceptance and defiance (“New York”, “Pressure”), pleading (“Fire/Desire”), loss and grief of what could have been (“Edge of the Earth”), with some especially touching classical accompaniment in on this theme in “Belong”, all before an unresolved electronica version of a torch ballad with the slower-paced and simpler “Exhale”. It’s all a long and slow burn from the initial euphoric tracks that tells an introspective tale of a love quickly gained then lost.
Overall, this is an excellent album in the style of Rüfüs Du Sol and one that tells a tale in its own right. Certainly, it’s a simple story but one which most red-blooded human beings who have lived a life would at least be somewhat familiar with. It is not quite delivered with high poetry, and there is a commitment to ensuring, for the most part, a consistency in the musical style and tempo with excellent quality that is at least on par with everything else that they have produced and, like their other content, Inhale/Exhale is highly recommended.
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