Ruston Kelly’s New Album Pale, Through The Window Is “A Spiritual Transformation” (Rolling Stone)

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12 September, 2025Print

Ruston Kelly's New Album Pale, Through The Window Is "A Spiritual Transformation" (Rolling Stone)

Available today via Rounder Records + Early praise from Rolling Stone, Vice, Men’s Health, and more

Upcoming Headline Tour Includes Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, NYC’s Bowery Ballroom, LA’s Troubadour + More

Listen to focus track “Me and You” HERE

Photo Credit: Alexa King Stone

Ruston Kelly’s transformative new album Pale, Through the Window is out today via Rounder Records. Across 13 tracks, Kelly captures a season of radical change, newfound joy, and hard-won peace, pairing deeply personal lyricism with an expansive sonic landscape. Produced by longtime collaborator Jarrad K and recorded live with his touring band at Chateau Noir, the album merges shimmering synths, sweeping pedal steel (performed by his father Tim “TK” Kelly), emo-tinged guitars, and Kelly’s raw vocal intensity.

“This album feels like a return to the truest, purest, most complete version of who I am as an artist and a human being,” says Kelly. “I wanted to write about joy in a way that was still honest and complicated, because that’s what real joy is—it carries everything that came before it.”

Alongside today’s release, Kelly shares focus track “Me and You.” First conceived as an unfinished folk tune in 2014 and reimagined as a synth-heavy anthem of devotion, the song stands as one of Kelly’s most powerful love songs to date, embodying the openness, joy, and clarity that anchor Pale, Through the Window. Listen HERE.

Early praise underscores the record’s impact.

Men’s Health hails “Pale Through the Window isn’t a totally new Ruston Kelly; it’s just another side of him,” and Rolling Stone adds the album chronicles a “spiritual transformation” and “a powerful shift. Nashville Lifestyles described it as “both atmospheric and grounded in wry grit…13 spellbinding tracks mix steel guitar, synth, and smoky self-deprecation with a glimmer of hope.”

Listen to Pale, Through the Window HERE

Kelly previewed the record with early singles “Half Past Three” and “Wayside,” and shared music videos for “Pickleball," which VICE said "will give you big early-00s-Blink-182 vibes," and album standout “Waiting To Love You.” The entire collection follows the second volume of his fan-favorite covers record Dirt Emo Vol. 2, and his 2023 album The Weakness, which led to a performance on Late Night with Seth Meyers and praise from Rolling Stone, NPR, Consequence, and The New York Times, which praised his ability to “find power in fallibility."

In celebration of release, Kelly had multiple AmericanaFest appearances, including an anticipated return to the Bluebird Cafe tonight at 6PM. Earlier this week, Kelly hosted his 1st Annual Pickleball Smackfest to kick off Americana, which featured his musician friends facing off in quick-fire matches. You can view photos from the event HERE (photo credit: Chris Hershman).

Kelly will bring the new record on the road this fall and winter for his headline tour, with dates including Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, New York’s Bowery Ballroom, Los Angeles’ Troubadour, and more. See below for all tour dates and visit rustonkelly.com for more information.