Inside RUEL’s Sequel Album ‘Kicking My Feet & Screaming’: ‘There Were Two Worlds That Were Building Up’
Categoria: Musica
After releasing Kicking My Feet last year, RUEL returns with what he calls its "sequel album" about the other side of falling in love.
Por Billboard | 12/06/2026
RUEL rose to prominence as a teenager and achieved early success with breakout hits such as “Dazed and Confused,” off of his debut EP Ready , and “Painkiller,” off his second EP Free Time . With continued success across the Australian charts, he’s since cemented himself as a rising global pop artist. His 2025 album Kicking My Feet , peaked at No. 36 on the Album Sales Chart — and was just the beginning of what he called part one of a two-part project. Today (June 12), that second half has arrived with Kicking My Feet & Screaming . At its core, Kicking My Feet & Screaming is about embracing every aspect of a relationship — not just the joyful moments. While Kicking My Feet captures the excitement of being infatuated and, as RUEL describes it, “leaning into the cringe,” Kicking My Feet & Screaming takes on a more restless and emotionally charged tone. The album explores the full spectrum of love, from the giddy, obsessive highs to the overwhelming and complicated emotions that come with deeper vulnerability. In between wrapping up his Kicking My Feet Tour and celebrating the release of Kicking My Feet & Screaming , RUEL sat down with Billboard to talk about the new album and what he’s most excited for as he steps into this next era. You’ve described this album as Kicking My Feet part two. Do you see it as a companion piece or the second half of the same story? I think of it as a sequel. That’s the best way to put it because I wouldn’t say there’s a super clear narrative that goes between them. I think they work together sonically and musically. You released two connected albums within eight months. When did you realize the story wasn’t finished and you needed a sequel album after Kicking My Feet? I was writing both of them at the same time. When you listen to them back-to-back, it feels like you’re in the same world, but I think I really like how Kicking My Feet , which came out in October, is focusing on the happy stages of love and talking about love in a positive way and leaning into the cringe. The idea of kicking your feet is exactly that. Then when you add “and screaming,” it completely changes the meaning. Was there a moment where you thought, “This particular song belongs on a second album instead of the first album”? I was writing so many songs and when I was starting to make the tracklist, even though I was kind of halfway through writing, I realized that there were two worlds that were building up. I also love 10 song albums and there was no chance I could have picked ten songs out of everything I wrote. So I was like, let’s just do two 10 song albums. Do you recall the moment you realized you were going to do two albums? I think that the first trigger was realizing how many songs I wanted to put out. After the fact is where I saw the difference; 10 of these songs are about love, and then 10 are not. Maria Alvarez What