For a while, Ruel balanced blossoming pop stardom with homework, playing support tours during school holidays and spending evenings and weekends in the studio. "Outside of a very small circle of my closest friends, no one knew what I was doing." When he was offered his first world tour, though, he knew he'd have to give something up. "My parents were really supportive about it, though. They encouraged me to fully lean into music, if that's what I really wanted to do." And he really did. "I've always adored being on stage. I've always been an attention seeker, and playing live is all the attention I can get. I just love it."

"I still find it all pretty mind-boggling how it popped off from the start," says Ruel. "It's something I'll never take for granted, but honestly, I have no idea why those early tracks resonated with people." He still plays breakout hits  'Younger', 'Dazed & Confused', 'Face To Face', 'Painkiller' and 'Free Time' every night on tour. "The crowd reacts in such a special way to them, but now I feel like a different person than when I first wrote them. Those lyrics have taken on such a different meaning."

As well as making radio-friendly tunes, Ruel established a fierce fanbase through his tender, emotional lyrics. 2019's 'Unsaid' was written after the suicide of a close friend; 'Don't Cry' is a moody post-breakup ballad that never tries to hide the hurt. It's little wonder his headline shows were emotionally charged pandemonium.

"Playing live is just the best feeling in the world. There's a certain type of adrenaline that I get from being onstage that you can't get anywhere else. It also made me feel seen, and gave me a sense of belonging," which is hard to come by when your teenage years are spent on the road. "I started to create this community of fans, most of whom were the same age as me. Growing up with them has been so special."

He might not have planned to become a pop star, but he was a natural at it. "Seeing the effect that my music was having on people was insane. Even as a 16-year-old, you can't ignore how impactful that is," he says. "It felt like my music mattered. It felt like I was doing a little bit of good in the world."

Still, the success was disorientating. "It was really strange because I didn't know that it wasn't normal," says Ruel, who had nothing but wins for the first few years of his career. He got signed to Sony's RCA Records without releasing any music and was constantly busy with live gigs. "There was no ten years of grinding and getting nothing back. I just assumed that maybe it happened to everybody like that…" says Ruel, who now knows just how lucky he was. "At the time, it was easy to take things for granted, though."

It wasn't long before Ruel started worrying about the rapid trajectory his career was on. Those fears were amplified when he was given a front row seat to what proper pop stardom looked like while supporting Shawn Mendes on his sold-out Australian arena tour. "I was still just a kid. Success was coming thick and fast, and while it felt great, that next step level of fame scared the shit out of me." The way people talked about him, it was a case of when, not if, Ruel would be headlining arenas of his own. "Shawn is the loveliest guy ever, but I was seeing how hard he had to work to be incognito that whole tour. I didn't want that. I was happy with where I was."

Before Ruel could put the brakes on, COVID hit. He returned home to Australia, was separated from his usual Los Angeles-based song-writing team and, for the first time in his accidental career, could reflect on everything that had happened. "That's when I realised how much I'd achieved and how grateful I was for it all."

After being off-grid for two years, it felt like he had to build things from the ground up and decided to approach things with a bit more intention going forward.  "I found this new drive for spreading my music as far as possible. I now feel confident that if I ever got the opportunity to play arenas, I could handle it."

Ruel's debut album, 'Fourth Wall', was released in 2023. Rather than looking at his own life for inspiration, though, he took influence from the meta mindbend of The Truman Show, the anarchic chaos of Fight Club and iconic 60s romcom The Graduate. "I was still growing up when I made that record," Ruel admits. "I was riddled with uncertainty and didn't really know who I was or what I wanted to be." It's why he turned to movies and other people's stories for the album. "I wanted every song to have a twist that was dark or sad. I was so worried about revealing too much about myself or people thinking I was embarrassing."

Last year's glorious follow-up, 'Kicking My Feet', couldn't be more different. "I'm completely leaning into the cringe on that album. I want people to judge me for who I am."

After more time on the road, more experiences in the studio, Ruel went into 'Kicking My Feet' knowing exactly what type of artist he wanted to be, and what music he wanted to make. "There's just so much more intention behind it. Everything I was referencing was music that I loved and not what some label executive said was cool," says Ruel, who took inspiration from synth pop greats Tears For Fears, 80s rockers Little Feat, Scottish electro art-pop band The Blue Nile, 70s soul music and frequent Brockhampton collaborator Ryan Beatty. "I know the album doesn't actually sound anything like that. I was referencing something new every day, and then working out how I could use my strengths to make something that felt exciting to me."

Over the course of two years, Ruel wrote 200 tracks with a number of different producers and collaborators after working closely with M-Phazes on '4th Wall'. "I wasn't trying to prove anything to anybody. I think that's where I've fallen short before," says Ruel before pausing. "Maybe I just wanted to prove to myself that I could make a record that was 100% me."

"That gave me a lot of liberty. I was the only constant in the music we were making, so it was up to me to make sure it felt cohesive. There was a lot of trial and error," he grins, which explains why he ended up with a couple of hundred tracks. "It's the most confident I've ever felt, though." Other projects ended up feeling gruelling, or he'd fall in love with a track that his label wasn't as excited by, which led to some serious second-guessing. "With this project, I was just more certain about everything." In fact, early into the process, Ruel decided he was going to make two records. 'Kicking My Feet', a sincere ten-track love-letter to being as earnest as possible, was released back in October, while part two-slash-sequel 'Kicking & Screaming' is out in June. "It's a little darker, a little more negative. It's about life in a more existential way."

"It was just whatever I was feeling on the day. When you're writing over the course of two years, you're going to write about different things," says Ruel who describes the new album as 'Kicking My Feet' Part 2. "It's not what happened next, but it feels like a progression." There are still plenty of romantic songs, but there are also a handful of break-up songs about friends or colleagues. "I think 'Screaming' is a good sonic example of what I'll probably do for the next record. It's almost like a bridge to that next chapter."

Both albums see him writing tender, revealing songs about his own life. "It was just a natural progression," says Ruel. His first couple of attempts felt more corny than cathartic, though. "I kept trying to give them twists to make them edgy or whatever because that's what I felt like I needed to do," he admits. That changed when a friend told him that a song doesn't need to be about pain for it to be emotional. He started writing unapologetic, giddy love songs soon after.

"I was so inspired by that Tom Cruise interview on Oprah, where he's jumping on the sofa and acting like an insane person because he's so in love. Honestly, I think everyone feels a little bit like that when they're head over heels," says Ruel.

'Kicking My Feet' was built around a core trio of 'The Suburbs', 'I Can Die Now' and the title-track, three blissed-out songs about love, growth and happy-ever-afters. Even from the titles, it's obvious 'Screaming' is a little darker with 'Hate Myself', 'I Didn't Love You Anyway' and 'Faking Smiles'. "They're about what you do and don't like about yourself," says Ruel, with the entire record existing within those two extremes.

The rumbling funk of 'Don't Say That' is about "someone who's clearly in denial and doesn't want something to be real, even though it clearly is". Written with Joel Little (Niall Horan, Gracie Abrams) and Sean Douglas (Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez), the goal was to "see how far we could take a pop song."

'Talk To The Driver' might be the most devastating track Ruel has ever released, which is saying something. "I was playing into the sad boy on the road trope, which I have definitely experienced," he says. "I wanted to write about my first couple of tours where I felt really isolated – I wasn't speaking to anyone else my age for six months at a time." Adele collaborator Dan Wilson and perhaps the world's coolest producer, Kenny Beats (IDLES, Geese), helped him reach new vulnerable heights. "For both these albums, I'd go into a studio, talk about my deepest, darkest secrets and we'd make the most interesting song out of it," he says. "Writing about yourself is a good bit of therapy. It helps you know yourself a lot."

"It feels like I can finally be overly earnest and authentic in my music," he adds. "I've always been pretty transparent, and I've never really kept much to myself, but I spent a lot of time wanting to seem cooler than I was. Now, who gives a shit? Just be yourself, and if you like a song, that's all that matters."

A couple of years ago, Ruel would have never released 'Screaming'. The tracks didn't fit into the loved-up world of 'Kicking My Feet', and there's no overarching concept that neatly ties them together. "I'd have just moved onto something else," he admits. "Now, I've become less precious about album concepts. If a song means something to me, it's going to make sense to someone."

"Now more than ever, it's best song wins," he continues. "Whatever packaging, whatever story is behind it, it doesn't really matter as long as the song is great. That's all I'm focused on."

Even at its most melancholic and heartbroken, there's always been an undeniable optimism to Ruel's music. That hasn't changed with 'Kicking My Feet' or 'Screaming'. "I think that comes from my general outlook on life. I've always had a lack of anxiety about the future, and I can adapt to whatever comes my way. Maybe it's the way I was raised, or maybe it's being comfortable with who I am and the relationships around me, but I just feel like everything is going to be alright at the end of the day. It means there's joy and hope within everything I write."

He's getting more unapologetic about that, too. "Optimism doesn't feel corny anymore because people actually need it. It's the same with talking about love and feeling okay – I think it's what people want to hear right now. I've stopped holding back and started being proud of joy. "

Sombr is the hottest new name around thanks to his deliciously groovy emo anthems, while Benson Boone, Noah Kahan, Conan Gray and many more are making confessional pop. Ruel has embraced tender songs of love and heartache with his latest records, but he isn't fussed about sticking with it just to capitalise on what's trendy. "There is a hunger for vulnerability in music, but I don't think that's the only thing people are looking for. Not everything has to be a love letter to who you are. People can write music because it's fun and exciting," he says. "The worst thing is ingenuine whining. No one cares about that. If you're being honest, though, people can get behind that."

"Maybe I'll continue to push the vulnerability, maybe I'll go back to whining about the little things in my life," says Ruel of his next chapter. Whichever way he turns, he's in no rush. "I'm so far away from really thinking about what I want to do next," he admits, despite managing to write a couple of sentences while on the road that'll hopefully turn into something more substantial once he's back in the studio. "But I know what music inspires me. I know the things I'm good at. Being true to yourself is the number one rule."

It's a lesson he's learnt from making 'Kicking & Screaming'. "That album's all about celebrating every part of who you are," he says. "It's about not being afraid of being passionate." ■

Taken from the May 2026 issue of Dork. Ruel's album 'Kicking & Screaming' is out 12th June.