Arches & Enemies by Bitter Ruin
Arches & Enemies is the album we weren’t sure we’d ever make.
It lives in the tension between love and loss, between the person you were and who you had to become. It’s sparse in places, explosive in others—always driven by the voices, the harmonies, and the theatrical heart that made us fall in love with making music together in the first place.
Written over the course of 10 years, these 10 songs are born from the silence, the distance, and the chaos that life threw at us. Each one arrived at its own time, telling a piece of our story from a moment we didn't know we were writing. They’re raw and honest, a reflection of the shifts and struggles we’ve faced, and the realisations that came from them.
Sonically, this record is not just a return to our roots of acoustic guitar and layered harmonies. It’s also something new—heavier than anything we’ve done before, but still unmistakably Bitter Ruin. It feels like the past and present coming together, wiser, angrier, softer in places, and louder in others.
Arches & Enemies represents the bridges we’ve built, each one carrying the possibility of collapse. But after everything, we’re still here. Still fighting. Still singing.
Tracklist
| 1. | Wish Me Away | 4:19 |
| 2. | Criticise | 3:42 |
| 3. | Through the Bricks | 3:54 |
| 4. | Shivers | 4:14 |
| 5. | A Man Like Him | 3:45 |
| 6. | You Called Me Out | 3:49 |
| 7. | Smoking Gun | 3:53 |
| 8. | Stay Alive | 3:13 |
| 9. | Every Time | 3:42 |
| 10. | Pain On Me | 5:04 |
Credits
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Bitter Ruin are:
Georgia Train (lead vocals, backing vocals)
Ben Richards (lead vocals, backing vocals, guitars, bass, piano, synths)
All songs written and performed by Georgia Train and Benjamin James Richards
Produced and mixed by Benjamin James Richards
Mastered by Marcel Van Limbeek
Strings on tracks 4 and 5 by Lizz Lipscombe
Drums on tracks 2, 7 and 10 by Tim Trotter
Additional bass guitar on track 10 by Chris Stagg
Photography by Scott Chalmers
License
All rights reserved.Tags
Formed in Brighton in 2007, Bitter Ruin built a cult following with their raw, genre-jumping sound and bold vocal work. With roots in folk-noir and alt-rock, their music is theatrical, emotional, and fiercely powerful, blending nostalgia with a fearless push into the unknown.
After a decade-long hiatus, the duo returns with Arches & Enemies—out 15 May 2025.