Next to Me

Written in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, "Next To Me" is a bittersweet electronic ballad about finding true love and the anguish of being separated from it - a sentiment many fans could relate to during the loneliness of lockdown. For Rüfüs Du Sol, who spent two months in the California desert reconnecting with each other in the early stages of their 2021 Surrender album, it's ultimately a hopeful track. Keyboardist Jon George explained: "There were a lot more yearning lyrics being put down when we were writing the track, but we felt it didn't need any of the darkness that you hear on a lot of our other records. We wanted to create something more positive, a kind of homage to the feel-good soul of classic house music. I am sure there is part of this that reflects a feeling in our lives and relationships. We wanted to share that with this track."

The haunting echoes of a spare piano chord that open the song convinced the band it would be the perfect introductory track for Surrender, their fourth studio album. Jon George told Apple Music in 2021: "This felt like a really good opening moment for the record - the nakedness of the piano was the perfect summary of where we were at. We bought a piano for this record, and we really had fun being able to lay out tunes bare-bones, with just the vocals and piano, to see if the songs were working in their purest form."

The release of Surrender marked Rüfüs Du Sol's 10th anniversary as a band, but they were close to breaking up before they even made the album. Years of constant touring and grueling studio sessions - particularly on their previous album, Solace, where they burned the candle at both ends during their first stint in LA - put a strain on their dynamic, which was reflected in their increasingly brooding lyrics. They brought their resentments to Joshua Tree, where they worked out their differences through group meditations, vulnerable conversations, and the occasional screaming match, before hunkering down to work in the studio. It was a transformational experience that brought a lightness back to their music. "I know that the pandemic has been really heavy for so many people, but it was really a miracle for us," lead singer Tyrone Lindqvist told Spin in 2021. "That stop was an opportunity for us to reassess where we were at and reconnect as a band."