Announcing Ryan Hemsworth's 'Numbskull'

Today we're thrilled to welcome Ryan Hemsworth to the Topshelf roster with two singles, "One Step" and "A Display of Emotion," from his forthcoming album Numbskull.

Watch the "One Step" music video ➡

Having worked with the likes of Alex G, Tinashe, Mitski, and countless others over a 15-year span, Ryan Hemsworth has developed an uncanny ear for talent while simultaneously honing his craft as a shapeshifting producer comfortable in any genre setting. Although known for his prolific output and seemingly endless high-profile collaborations, Numbskull is Hemsworth's first solo album since 2018's Elsewhere, and his first for Topshelf Records.

Pre-order Numbskull ➡

On Numbskull, Hemsworth squares a tangled mix of influences ranging from shoegaze to lo-fi to metal, all squeezed through the lens of his globe-trotting pop background. Hemsworth embraces these heavy distorted influences on the blown-out lead single "One Step", a blaring foundation for the boisterous vocal performance delivered by Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties.

The lead single's pairing, "A Display of Emotion" highlights the inherent sentimentality underlying all of Numbskull in a downtempo instrumental that flashes with Hemsworth's studied sound design and newfound emphasis on guitar.

Of the two songs, Hemsworth writes:

With "One Step" I started thinking about old Three 6 Mafia tapes, and some old crunchy 90s UK rave stuff. I imagined this would probably only work with a rapper. But I started making more random friends around this time -- someone I connected with and had been giving some production ideas to was Sarah of Illuminati Hotties. Kind of at a whim I sent her this one. I'm not sure why exactly because generally I would've sent her something more like her own project. But she jumped at it, and it made me realize this might be my approach with collaboration for Numbskull -- only give people wild cards. And honestly it seemed to work for everyone involved.

Making the kind of electronic music that I want to with the guitar front and center is always this challenging push and pull process. It's so easy to lean too far in one direction and it sounds like complete cheese. "A Display of Emotion" kind of hit my ideal balance of sad guitar and bass that could make my trunk rattle. Some of these songs were starting to be made while my oldest kid was on summer break and my youngest wasn't in daycare, so my association with them is just being daddy daycare all day and then making this music in the middle of the night.

Catch Ryan Hemsworth on tour this fall, supporting George Clanton: