Premiere: Letting Go with Future Husband’s Dreamy Debut Single “Ritual”

A dreamy song full of warmth and passion, Future Husband’s enchanting debut single “Ritual” balances distress and happiness, emotional upheaval and tranquility as the artist undergoes a journey of personal transformation, healing, and renewal.

for fans of Tennis, Lorde, Glass Animals

Stream: “Ritual” – Future Husband

Now I can see that you only brought me flowers so you can see me drowning in the vase…

Listening to Future Husband’s debut single for the very first time, you might not pick up on the depth, weight, or pain of its lyrics. A poignant story of letting go and parting ways with toxic love, “Ritual” reckons with loss and separation of a high order – and yet from a strictly sonic perspective, its music feels lightweight and freeing; even radiant. A dreamy song full of warmth and passion, Future Husband’s “Ritual” balances distress and happiness, emotional upheaval and tranquility as the artist undergoes a journey of personal transformation, healing, and renewal.

I thought that it was me, that I had some sort of
Voodoo in my brain
I thought that only I could see the summer sunset
While my eyes are filled with rain
I need power to turn on
But I do not pull the strings
I need to.
See the way that it turns out, all the other little things
Wasted and finished
It’s time to give up

I just realised that
I don’t wanna be part of this ritual anymore
I’m breaking the silence
Till I grow my branches
Walking on the earth like a demigod
Cause I never move on and I wait too long
Till I’m just a shadow in the shade of what I’ve become
And I’m too far gone

Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering Future Husband’s debut single “Ritual,” out October 22, 2021 via Bloomer Records. The debut solo project for Dutch-Nigerian singer/songwriter Adura Sulaiman (whose past credits include touring with acts like Feng Suave and Sofie Winterson), Future Husband creates soulful and seductive indie pop that is at once insular and cinematic: A soft and tender explosion of sound and feeling.

Working with bandmates/best friends Thomas Bosveld, Ivar Otten, Kike Zwagerman, and Twan de Roo in a teepee in the Dutch countryside, Sulaiman found her stride and carved out her own musical identity – one that, just based on her first release, might be likened to artists like Tennis or Molly Burch, with glistening guitar and synth tones and introspective, expressive vocals that drive the song high and low, and ever onward. In short, Future Husband’s “Ritual” is utterly captivating: An exhilarating, cathartic experience.

“‘Ritual’ is about the process of letting go of a reckless lover,” Sulaiman tells Atwood Magazine. “I wanted the music and lyrics to tell two different sides of the same story. The lyrics are still in the process of letting go, while the music is already in a stage of celebration and release.”

“It can be hard to let go of the love you receive from someone who means very well, but is reckless in the process of loving you,” she adds. “‘Ritual’ is about how hard it can be to realize what’s best for you while you’re in the middle of this. We recorded and arranged “Ritual” in a tipi tent in the village where most of my band members and I grew up. A tent doesn’t reflect any sound, so it felt like we were truly alone. Being outside in nature gave a whole new dimension to the music and gave me time to truly reflect on the lyrics. When I recorded the demos in my bedroom, they were still quite bitter, sad and sometimes angry. After the tipi week, they became love letters that me and my friends wrote simultaneously to each other.”

Future Husband’s lyricism is intimate and deeply poetic; she holds nothing back as she severs the tie to this toxic presence in her life – a person who, as she so viscerally describes, “brought me flowers so you can see me drowning in the vase.”

Now I can see
That you only brought me flowers so you can see me drowning in the vase
I believe
That I’m still too young to pretend that I’m anything that I’m not
Can’t you see
That you burnt my house down with the candles that you brought
I know you don’t mean it like that
But I can’t be the one that you call anymore.

While her music takes on a certain kind of ethereal and existential quality, Future Husband’s storytelling feels rooted in a deeply real and vulnerable space.

“Ritual” hence comes to life as the best of both worlds, enveloping listeners in layers of passion and pain, euphoria and turmoil – with sweet harmonies and gentle melodies soaring in, around, and through our periphery. All told, Future Husband’s debut single makes for a dazzling introduction. It’s a song we are sure to come back to time and again, while we anxiously and eagerly await more from this exciting new artist.

I just realised that
I don’t wanna be part of this ritual anymore
I’m breaking the silence
Till I grow my branches
Walking on the earth like a demigod
‘Cause I never move on and I wait too long
Till I’m just a shadow in the shade of what I’ve become
And I’m too far gone

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:: stream/purchase “Future Husband” here ::

Stream: “Ritual” – Future Husband

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? © Renée Meijer