Ruth Berhe’s parents emigrated from Ethiopia to Edmonton‚ Alberta‚ Canada‚ in the mid-1980s․ Political instability under the Derg military junta and the 1984-85 Ethiopian famine resulted in a large wave of emigration to various parts of Canada by Ethiopians; the Edmonton Ethiopian community established an association in that city in September 1982․ When the Berhes came‚ the few families that had arrived created the precursors of a diaspora: orthodox churches‚ cooperatives‚ mutual aid associations‚ and cultural activities‚ all the while speaking Amharic at home․ In 2016‚ there were 5200 people of Ethiopian descent in Edmonton (and 44000 across Canada)․ Ruth B․ said in a Flaunt interview that her parents were “pretty adamant on making sure that my brother and I retained the culture,” and that Ethiopian music was played in the house․ She later discovered Ms. Lauryn Hill and Alicia Keys on her own․
She took piano lessons at eight and began singing as well․ She also worked part time in a Reitman clothing store while attending MacEwan University․ In a same interview, she noted that her all-time favorite album was The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill․ She began posting six-second videos on the social media platform Vine in 2013‚ initially posting lifestyle content before posting short piano and vocal covers․ The song that broke out was “Lost Boy,” a piano-centric ballad about Peter Pan and loneliness‚ which she said felt like a teenager’s diary entry set to a church chord progression; she got signed by Columbia Records․ The song went 2x Platinum in the US․
“I always felt very overwhelmed by the fact that I’m from Edmonton‚ Alberta‚” she told Flaunt․ “How are people going to hear about me?” A record deal plus a cross-country move to New York‚ then Los Angeles‚ changed the answer‚ however․ Her debut studio album Safe Haven (2017) has streamed over 2․5 billion times after its lead single “Dandelions” experienced a revival on TikTok years after its initial viral success․ She left MacEwan at the age of 20‚ living inside a career that a six-second clip had built for her․ Then five years passed․
She returned to Edmonton during the pandemic‚ and ended the relationship at the age of 28․ She spoke to People that the album’s lyrics were “just trying to process how I was feeling and get through stuff.” She wrote the songs by herself‚ before sitting on them long enough to realize what the music was․ After writing three tracks‚ she went looking for a producer․ Instead she found six-time Grammy-winning Cole M․G․N․ (credited on Beck‚ Christine and the Queens‚ Blood Orange‚ and Julia Holter‚ according to Interview Magazine)‚ an art-pop and indie producer distant from the R&B background that normally accompanies breakup albums․ She chose the album title Peace to Make from one of the song lyrics‚ saying the common thread was “this yearning for answers‚ stability and peace․”
The opening lyrics, “I told you all my secrets‚ and I showed who I was/Told me you’ve been hurt‚ and I showed you how to trust,” set the scene of “Didn’t I.” But the story is through her eyes of twelve songs․ Ruth B․ told Broadway World that “Jealous” was a song that caught listeners off guard‚ since they “don’t catch right away that I’m jealous of the love that I’m giving someone else and not getting in return․” In “Who’s Gonna Love You,” it’s two in the morning and she tells him she won’t pick up again․ The second person stays locked through every track․ The Berhe household in Edmonton was the same way․ One language‚ one set of songs‚ one culture‚ all of it alive in the conversation between the family and the place they came from․ Ruth B․ does the same thing with a man who stopped being in the room․
The community that her family were part of survived on specifics‚ on exact songs and prayers carried from Addis Ababa to a city on the Canadian prairies‚ and Ruth B․’s writing cuts deepest when it runs on the same fuel․ On “Not You,” she is in the passenger seat of a kind man’s car and feels sick at the fact that he is so good for her․ Over a piano, she says “Cause hes everything thats good for me‚ its true/But he’s not you․” She hangs a sign at the bar she liked in “Shoulda Been Us” and wonders what it would be like to have children with other people․ In “Best Days” she laid on the grass with him when they both heard something scary and ran down laughing․ She threads the needle with an acoustic guitar and midtempo drums behind her: “I’m so scared that I won’t laugh like that/Won’t kiss like that‚ won’t trust like that again․” On “Bad Combination,” they speed it up in a hotel room: “What’s your name‚ what’s your sign‚ wanna be mine?” Later, the refrain shuffles: “No telling what I’ll do‚ do/No telling what I’ll do․” Each of these songs carries the room it happened in․
It’s no accident “No Boundaries” lets the room go: you could extract its promise of unconditional love from any songwriters notepad in any city․ “Pick Me” does it too‚ ending on self-empowerment‚ but where this broken heart “is a perfect mosaic/Of all the moments that I wanted to erase,” the following hook’s outlook is brighter than anywhere the surrounding verses ever had the room for․ The address drops out on both‚ and whatever precision the other songs possessed from one room to another‚ these two trade for a feeling available to anyone․
She told V Magazine that she hit a writer’s block while composing “Breathe,” and returned to her hometown Edmonton for six months․ Then she drove to Banff: “I just remember for the first time in a long time feeling so small‚ and it was such a liberating feeling․” It took a year from beginning to finish‚ until she returned to the place the Berhes had landed thirty years before‚ to the city they had chosen when they left Ethiopia․ Suddenly it started to flow․ But she keeps returning there․ Edmonton is where the family had put down roots‚ and roots are what her writing needs when it stalls․ The five-year gap between albums doesn’t have to mean she wasn’t writing then‚ just that she needed to live life and have experiences before she can write․ She had to live the bar night‚ the late night phone call‚ the passenger seat‚ the grass they ran through laughing․ The Berhes crossed the ocean with their songs and prayers and recipes and their language․ Her daughter will also need new rooms․
Solid (★★★½☆)
Favorite Track(s): “Jealous,” “Not You,” “Who’s Gonna Love You”