Ruth B. Returns With First Album in Five Years, ‘Peace to Make’

Ruth B. is opening a deeply personal new chapter with her third studio album, tracing heartbreak, healing and self-reflection across 12 songs.

Ruth B. has returned with Peace to Make, her first full-length album in five years and the follow-up to 2021’s Moments in Between. Released on August 21, the 12-track project finds the Canadian singer-songwriter turning a difficult period in her personal life into a record centered on rebuilding and moving forward.

In a new interview with People, Ruth said much of the album grew out of the end of a long-term relationship when she was 28. Rather than keeping that experience at a distance, she used the writing process to examine heartbreak from several angles, including the fear, grief and clarity that can arrive after a major relationship ends.

Peace to Make was co-produced with Cole M.G.N., whose credits include work with Carly Rae Jepsen, Beck and Christine and the Queens. Ruth has described the sessions as more collaborative than the process behind her previous album, while the finished record pulls from pop, soul and R&B alongside influences that include Lana Del Rey, Aretha Franklin, Lorde and elements of Ethiopian music.

The rollout introduced listeners to “Bad Combination,” “Didn’t I” and “Best Days” before the full album arrived. “Best Days,” released in July, looks back on the happiest moments of a past relationship while wrestling with the fear that nothing in the future will feel quite the same.

Another key track, “Breathe,” came from a particularly difficult stretch that ultimately pushed Ruth toward therapy and a healthier place. The album closes with “Pick Me,” shifting the focus toward self-worth and giving the record a sense of resolution after the uncertainty explored earlier in the tracklist.

The release also marks a new phase for an artist whose catalog has continued finding audiences between albums. Ruth first broke through with “Lost Boy” after building an early following on Vine, while “Dandelions,” from her 2017 debut Safe Haven, later surged again through TikTok and became one of her most enduring songs.

With Peace to Make, Ruth B. returns after a five-year album gap with a project built around change rather than simply picking up where she left off. The record is available now, with its 12-song tracklist also including the title track, “Jealous,” “Love’s Vulnerable,” “Not You,” “Who’s Gonna Love You,” “Shoulda Been Us” and “No Boundaries.”