Ruby Fields has been growing up in public since rising to national fame in 2017. After a string of successful singles and EPs, Ruby solidified her position as the iconoclastic songwriter Australia needed with her 2021 debut album, Been Doin’ It For A Bit.
Been Doin’ It For A Bit debuted at #1 in the ARIA Top 50 Albums chart, vindicating five years of hard work from Ruby, dating back the 2017 single “I Want”. Triple j’s Richard Kingsmill praised “I Want” as a “great song for sure,” signalling the beginning of the youth station’s ongoing support for Ruby’s music.
“I Want”, and Ruby’s follow-up single, “P Plates”, both appeared on the 2018 EP, Your Dad’s Opinion For Dinner, which received triple j high rotation. But Ruby’s breakthrough hit was “Dinosaurs”, which was released in September 2018 as the lead single from Ruby’s second EP, Permanent Hermit.
Been Doin’ It For A Bit was preceded by the single, “Pretty Grim,” which again made a major impression on triple j listeners and landed at #61 in the Hottest 100 of 2020. The album’s best-loved track is the ode to kindred mateship, “Kitchen”, which appeared at #58 in triple j’s Hottest 100 of 2021 and sparked mass sing-alongs at theatres around Australia on Ruby’s recent album launch tour.
Ruby produced Been Doin’ It For A Bit with three of her best mates: guitarist Adam Newling, bass player Tas Wilson, and drummer Patrick Rogers. “This album is my love letter to the boys, and maybe to everything that’s broken me in the past,” Ruby said.
The foursome began recording in Waiuku, New Zealand, in early 2020, but the sessions were cut short due to the pandemic. They completed the record at The Music Farm, Byron Bay, and the finished product is a declaration of individual and artistic independence that reflects the complexities of growing up, making mistakes, and making peace with one’s fallibility.
“Since I was 17, I’ve been doing the Ruby Fields thing, but I gave myself a break to finally come to terms with who I am as a person,” said Ruby. “Making mistakes is part of life, but in 2020 my self-worth wasn’t validated by who I was on stage. So, I’ve been working on being a better friend, partner, bandmate; just a better person.”
Now 24 years old, Ruby is a Platinum-selling, chart-topping singer-songwriter. Been Doin’ It For A Bit was showered in critical praise upon release in September 2021, including an 8/10 review from Clash Magazine (UK) and 4/5 from NME Australia.
Ruby Fields continues to grow up in public, and she’s bringing her music along with her. “I came straight out of high school and went straight into the music industry and didn’t really know who I was yet,” Ruby said in a recent interview with Rolling Stone Australia. “Now I’ve got a bit more of an understanding of who I am as a person.”