Ruby Doomsday Share Dreamy New Single ‘Puff of Smoke’

The South London duo’s third single explores what happens after a film’s characters drive off into the sunset, accompanied by a VHS-style music video.

Ruby Doomsday have released their third single, ‘Puff of Smoke’, alongside a video that takes the South London duo out on the road. Written with the idea of what happens after the credits roll and the characters drive off into the sunset, the track finds Joey and Courtney exploring the uncertainty beyond that neatly packaged ending. It’s a lovely, warm piece of pop, with a touch of Tennis in its ’60s leanings and the way their voices sit together. The keys give the song much of its warmth, sitting beautifully beneath the pair’s vocal harmonies.

Recorded and produced by Saam Jafarzadeh (Her’s, Brad Stank) at Dean Street Studios, ‘Puff of Smoke’ brings together sparkly keys, lo-fi tape loops and accordion drones. Despite the unknown waiting on the other side of its premise, there’s something reassuring about the whole thing. Its accompanying VHS road movie follows the pair riding around in a car, with the hazy footage giving their journey a slightly Twin Peaks-y feel.

The song’s starting point, though, came from another screen entirely: the closing sequence of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. ‘I’ve always been obsessed with that bit, probably cos I don’t understand it’, Julliard explains. ‘I don’t think you’re meant to. It’s like a visual representation of the great unknown, the moments after the end.’

The duo, whose backgrounds include Swim Deep, FUR, Rats-Tails and Dates for an Honest Mind, recently toured the UK supporting Nature TV. Their debut single, ‘Blood and Thunder’, also found a fan in Wet Leg, who selected it for playback before shows on their Moisturizer world tour. Ruby Doomsday have three London dates coming up: The George Tavern on 24 October, The Old Blue Last on 5 November and The Gunners Pub on 11 December. ‘Puff of Smoke’ is out now.