Australian singer and songwriter RY X had his commercial breakthrough with the song “Berlin” in 2013. A worldwide streaming success, it reached the Top 40 in the U.K. and France. He debuted his ethereal, acoustic-electronic atmospheres and haunting, gauzy vocals in full-length form on Dawn in 2016.
A native of coastal Angourie, New South Wales, Ry Cuming grew up admiring the likes of Pearl Jam and Jeff Buckley, and started writing his own songs at the age of 16 after hearing the latter’s Grace album. In 2010, he moved to Los Angles to pursue his music career and was eventually rewarded when Jive Records took notice and released his self-titled debut as Ry Cuming later that year. He went on to tour with pop/rock heavyweights Maroon 5 and enjoyed moderate success, while working with pop star Sara Bareilles on album track “Always Remember Me.”
Re-emerging in 2013 under the moniker RY X, he released the EP Berlin on Stockholm-based label Dumont Dumont. The gentle, reverb-heavy guitar sound on the EP evoked comparisons to Fleet Foxes and José Gonzalez, and lead single “Berlin” cracked the U.K. Top 40 after it appeared in a European ad campaign for TVs. The song reached as high as number 15 in France. After touring extensively as the vocalist for electronic act the Acid, RY X settled into his studio to work on his debut solo album, Dawn, which followed on Loma Vista and Infectious Records in 2016. It charted just outside of the Top 40 in several European countries.
The following year, Cuming returned to the studio, and his second long-player, Unfurl, appeared on Infectious in early 2019. If fared a bit better on the charts, reaching the number 11 spot in Belgium and the Top 40 in Germany and Switzerland. Capturing a performance in October 2019 with the London Contemporary Orchestra, Live from the Royal Albert Hall arrived in early 2021. ~ Scott Kerr & Marcy Donelson