Ruston Kelly’s New Album ‘Pale, Through the Window’ Explores Faith

One night, sitting at the piano, Ruston Kelly found God. “It was like a mushroom trip without the mushrooms,” he tells Rolling Stone. “In a moment of deep gratitude for just simply being able to play and sing, it happened. I wanted to know if God was like, a real thing, for such a long time, and let me tell you, I found out that night.”

Kelly’s spiritual transformation forms the backbone of Pale, Through the Window, his forthcoming studio album due in September. He made the album, recorded in Nashville, with longtime collaborator Jarrad Kritzstein. 

Pale, Through the Window is centered around two transformational changes in Kelly’s life — finding God, and meeting a new love — following Kelly’s 2023 post-divorce collection The Weakness. 

Shortly after he had his religious awakening, Kelly says he met someone “who came and changed my life entirely. She brought a gentleness out of me, made me feel like I could hold something precious, or priceless, and be trusted with it. I fell in love with her spirit and the quality of her heart.”

Kelly seems to be singing about his new life-changing relationship on “Wayside,” the latest offering from his upcoming LP. 

“I don’t want to be an expert,” he sings. “I just want to lay next to her and vibe.”

Kelly explores his own personal upheaval throughout the record.

“Love arrived in two new ways, fused into one very powerful realization: in spite of the chaos in the world, in spite of the trenches and ruts and long battled anxieties of daily existence, I am loved,” he tells Rolling Stone. “Isn’t that worth everything? This kind of love showed me there’s still hope and joy worth standing up for, calling out for, loudly, even, worth creating for. I wrote this album as a dedication to that, for her, through the lens of an impossible thankfulness for my Maker, and for every hard road it took to get here.”

Pale, Through the Window will be released on Sept. 12 on Rounder Records.