The Weakness

Hellfire

An introverted guy that has a way with words, Marshall-stacked guitar tones, and a sophisticated Nashville storytelling fare—that is American multi-instrumentalist David Russell.

Born July 3, 2000, in Nashville, Tennessee, David was raised in a musical family, collaborating with his sister, Emmy Russell, and grandmother, Loretta Lynn. His father introduced him to key influences like Tom Petty and the Ramones.

On Christmas Day 2016, David began uploading original songs to SoundCloud, influenced by bands like Modern Baseball & Weezer. These songs have been self-released as part of his annual “Summer Hiatus” compilations. He didn’t fit into Nashville, but he often attended and hosted DIY shows.

After relocating to New York City in 2020, David formed the alternative bands that gained traction in 2022 with a 52-week residency at the Bitter End. In 2023, producer Billy Mannino (Oso Oso, Macseal) worked with the him and his band on their track “Breaking Down & Feeling Low,” released two years later under Doolittle on their debut EP Secret Saturday. In 2024, David joined Nordista Freeze on his tour, which motivated David to distribute his music, previously exclusively on SoundCloud.

In 2025, David released 200 songs and formed alternative band Doolittle with Nordista Freeze, Michael Massiah, Gemma Guttenberg, & Jason Ruiz. The upcoming Summer Hiatus ‘25 proves songwriting is his trade, doubling down on what he knows best — anthemic choruses and a memoir style penmanship.

Since making his debut with 2018’s Dying Star, Ruston Kelly has built a catalog of songs that search for transcendence in the most devastating and demanding of experiences: addiction, the strenuous work of self-evolution, the fallout of broken relationships. But in the writing of his latest album, the South Carolina-born artist found himself in unfamiliar emotional territory—a state of sustained joy and inner peace, brought on by a spiritual breakthrough and the dawning of a new love. Brimming with the grit and depth that’s always defined his output, Pale, Through the Window ultimately affirms Kelly as one of modern music’s most astute observers of the human heart and spirit.

“For most of my life I’ve felt comfortable writing about darker subject matter with a slight silver lining of hope, asking questions like ‘Why do people suffer, and how can we find communion and joy in the middle of the suffering?’” says Kelly. “Before this album I didn’t quite have the songwriting muscle required to write about joy more directly, which meant that I had to develop some new muscles and find my voice in a whole different way.”

The follow-up to The Weakness—a 2023 release that earned major acclaim from the likes of Rolling Stone, The New York Times, NPR and led to his appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers”—Pale, Through the Window finds Kelly reuniting with his longtime collaborator Jarrad K, who also helmed production on Dying Star and 2020’s Shape & Destroy. The first body of work he’s recorded with his longtime touring band, the album centers on a singular sonic palette that often merges synth with pedal-steel guitar while fully embracing Kelly’s ardent love of classic pop-punk and emo—ultimately bringing a raw and potent energy to his soul-searching songwriting.

Over the course of Pale, Through the Window’s 13 songs, Kelly offers up everything from the somber rumination of the LP’s title track and the rueful longing of “Twisted Root” (an intimate look at his history with addiction) to the radiant open-heartedness of love songs like “Waiting to Love You” and “Wayside” (a euphoric but unvarnished portrait of love against the backdrop of a world in flames). And in sharing such an all-embracing account of his journey to acceptance and peace, he aspires to provide others with the courage to persevere through their own personal chaos. “If someone’s struggling with doubt or hopelessness because of the state of the world or their relationship with God or with themselves, I hope this record leaves them with the sense that it can be okay and that love truly is the most powerful force we have available to us,” says Kelly. “I also hope they feel at least a sliver of the freedom and joy I felt in writing these songs—even if they’re just having a good time bobbing their head to ‘Waiting to Love You,’ I want everyone to be reminded that the world can be a joyful place.

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