Truant.J presents Ruminations

From the first pulse to the last fading tail, Ruminations by Truant.J is an incisive exploration of darkness, reflection, and ultimately, release. It’s less about plunging into despair and more about seeing the contours of it, walking through it, and building something hopeful in the aftermath.

The emotional gravity of the EP is front and center. Truant.J has described Ruminations as a product of working through difficult personal moments and arriving at “a better place,” using the music to both honour that struggle and celebrate its resolution. That balance suggests that the EP is as much about tension — emotional, sonic — as it is about escape: there is no erasure of darkness, but neither is there resignation to it.

Technically, the approach he takes is measured and intentional. Earlier works showed his affinity for dense texture, distortion, and sometimes complex layering; Ruminations takes a more minimal, refined approach. In interviews, he mentions focusing on simpler elements that fit naturally together rather than forcing sounds into place. There's clean space in the mix, clarity in the percussive drive, and leads that cut through without excess. The record leans more into club-ready energy — structure, groove, forward motion — ever so slightly more accessible, while retaining his signature shadowy undercurrents.

Aesthetic inspirations also come into play: Truant.J speaks of visual art, classic cyber-futurism, and films like Blade Runner and Metropolis. These influences inform the EP’s atmosphere: sleek dystopian motifs, neon-lit starkness, a feeling of urban nightscape. But even within that moody architecture, the EP is alive — evolving, letting in moments of release. It’s not purely ambient or abstract; there’s function and punch for the dancefloor.

One of the EP’s strengths is the story — not a literal one, but a felt narrative. The title track sets the tone, both emotionally and sonically, and the rest of the EP follows in its wake, offering variations. Some tracks push forward, some provide breathers. By the end, you feel as though you’ve passed through and come out on the other side.

In context of his discography — with TRUANT002, Skin EP, and other past releases — Ruminations seems to distill what Truant.J has been growing toward. It isn’t a radical departure so much as a consolidation: all the darkness, all the texture, compressed and focused into something sharper, more immediate. It also teases what’s to come — he’s already spoken of material in very different directions, so this EP feels like a hinge between what was and what might be.

For those listening, beyond the craftsmanship and the textures, Ruminations offers something deeper: a moment of recognition. Perhaps in struggle, perhaps in moonlit beats in an underground club, perhaps in solitude. The residue it hopes to leave is one of escape, of feeling you are not only allowed to go through the dark, but also allowed to come out, and even to celebrate that emergence.

Order Link 

https://www.facebook.com/thisistruant

https://soundcloud.com/thisistruant