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Spanish producer and artist Rusowsky’s debut album “Daisy” begins with a lush and dramatic arrangement of strings and piano keys. When they gently lull to a halt, the second part of track one, “Kinki Fígaro,” shakes you awake with distorted and computerized vocals that create a dynamic and disorienting soundscape – equal parts creatively suggestive and all too literal.
Rusowsky, a classically trained musician, has been working towards this otherworldly debut – under a newly-signed joint venture deal with Warner Records and his home label Rusia-IDK – since he emerged in 2019 with his first batch of successful singles, including the lofi “So So,” which helped propel his career as one of Madrid’s most sought-after producers. Today, alongside his Rusia-IDK crew (Ralphie Choo, Tristán! and more), Rusowsky has landed at the forefront of a burgeoning avant-garde pop movement in Spain; and that circle is tight: Rosalía, C. Tangana and Interscope signee and rising star Judeline have all tapped Rusia-IDK artists for collaborations.
“Daisy” features its own eclectic lineup of guests including Ravyn Lenae and Kevin Abstract, Jean Dawson, La Zowi, Choo and retired Spanish girl group Las Ketchup, whose internationally famous 2002 single, “The Ketchup Song,” is sampled in the song “Johnny Glamour.” They all mold to fit Rusowsky’s ambitious soup of sounds that range from R&B and flamenco to symphonic pop, Brazilian funk and hip-hop, to name just a few.
Born Ruslan Mediavilla in 1999 to a Belarusian family in Madrid, Rusowsky first forged a path in music at age four, when he began learning classical piano from his mother, who also happened to be a music teacher. His debut is rich in expertly polished instrumentation; it’s hard to imagine a track as marvelously layered as the electro-merengue “malibU” was not recorded by a full studio ensemble, and was entirely self-written, produced and performed.
When there’s a guest on a song in “Daisy,” Rusowsky’s unique production accentuates the overall performance. Lyrically and thematically, there is an overarching ache with longing — for someone once close, now gone, who leaves behind a tangle of memories and the quiet chaos of questioning where you stand without them. On “Liar!,” a track built around hip-hop beats and soft, synthesized harmonies, he and Kevin Abstract make the most of a broken heart with an earworm for a poetic refrain: “I feel worried / I feel sticky / I feel yellow / I feel blessed / I feel without you.”
“Daisy” is a strikingly complete and honest collection for an artist that’s just getting started. It positions Rusowsky as both a skilled musician and producer and a rapidly evolving solo act on the verge of global breakout. And in the spirit of gaining momentum, he’s set to bring this vision stateside with an intimate U.S. tour that will begin in June and hit major cities including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
English (US) ·