After a series of exciting singles with many stories to tell, RØRY is finally ready to unleash her debut studio album, Restoration, to the world. Anyone who has been following RØRY knows how empowering her story is. Seeing how far she has come since encountering so much trouble in her life is heart-warming.
RØRY – Restoration (Sadcøre)
Release Date: 31 January 2025
Words: Chloe Groves
Restoration is marking a new beginning for RØRY and her music since battling a range of problems over the years, which, in a way, feels hopeful. It is a message urging us to push forward despite whatever hardships we may face in life.
The album opens with If Pain Could Talk, What Would It Say, which I think is a perfectly fitting title considering the fact that this song feels like RØRY’s subconscious talking to her, maybe a reflection on her past choices. Wondering if this path she chose to go down previously was the right one and if it was too late for her to turn back, but she also wanted to do something more with her life. For me, that is what this song’s message is.
From the gentle, softer vocals to the rowdy shouts and guitars, If Pain Could Talk, What Would It Say symbolises the rebirth, or restoration, of RØRY as this marks the beginning of a new chapter for her, or as the song says, “the start of your story”.
Right after, we’re thrown into In The Bible, which starts with an ethereal guitar section that feels and sounds, well, heavenly! While the whole album is emotional, of course, this song, in particular, has both feelings of anger and desperation, as RØRY expresses her frustration at problems such as suicide rates and antidepressants.
She uses her powerful singing voice to get across the fact that despite all of this, everything can and will be restored, making use of the line “everything you lost will be restored.” This holds great significance as this stems from a dream RØRY experienced in 2019, where a voice spoke this line to her.
Clearly, it has stuck ever since, which is completely understandable, and has even inspired the name of this album. To me, this song is a representation of the mind and the emotions we can feel. Sometimes, we feel anger for everything going wrong in life, and sometimes, we feel hopeful for the future, and we reassure ourselves that everything will be fine.
There are often moments in life where you will feel angry and others where you will feel relaxed and that’s fine. But it is important to remember that there is always another day yet to come.
I think one of my favourite songs from this album is MORALITY $UICIDE, and it is undoubtedly the one I have been the most excited to talk about. The song was released as part of a single in July and is a raw presentation of the current state of the globe, with so many wars and conflicts ongoing in a world stained with corruption.
Even without looking at the song itself, the title holds great significance, with the dollar sign showing how many politicians are in it for the money only rather than looking out for the people of their country and the world as promised. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to see those in powerful positions saying one thing and then doing the opposite, which leads to us wondering if we can even rely on our governments for anything.
RØRY showcases these thoughts and her anger at such issues in a song which, despite not being the most extreme, sticks to a more sombre style and gets across her disappointment and pain at seeing innocents suffering across the globe because of the actions of those with a greater influence.
Ordinary people should not have to suffer because of the actions of their governments (“politicians funding wars with people’s taxes”), but it seems more and more common every day that there is another devastating event commencing somewhere.
Personally, I think that one of the best ways to unite people is through music, and so it is music like this that I enjoy – songs that aren’t afraid to point out the problems in the world. That might be why I like some punk bands so much!
Music has the ability to bring so many people together, whether that be through the subcultures themselves or just being at a festival together, hence why it is important that we use these advantages to highlight issues for us to at least try to tackle. Overall, however, we should remember that at the end of the day, we are all human, and we should treat each other with respect and should help those who need it. We’re all just human beings trying to survive each day as they come and go, and sometimes, we need to be reminded of that.
SORRY I’M LATE is another song I think holds a great amount of importance when it comes to showcasing RØRY’s journey over the years. The song is a reflection of RØRY’s life journey and the reasons why she is restarting her music journey so “late” into her life.
The chorus especially showcases this, with RØRY being 100% raw and vulnerable while listing the reasons her life has been such a rough journey and why she had to leave music behind for a while. Lyrically, there’s a conflict present in RØRY’s mind. Is she too late and unable to start her music career again, or is she still on time now that she’s won every battle and has left all these negative things in the past?
Of course, we know that it definitely was not too late for her, which we can see from the success she has gained in the last year or so. However, it is clear as to why RØRY would have these thoughts – starting music again in your late 30s, releasing your new album at 40; it must be scary and anxiety-inducing, debating whether or not people would even bother to check into what a 40-year-old is releasing.
Thankfully, all of her hard work has paid off as she has had many successful live shows across the country and has had many listening to the music she had been dropping across 2024. The lyrics of SORRY I’M LATE really emphasise how hard it has been for RØRY to return to music and that it wasn’t a simple choice she made one day but something that came with many trials to test if she was ready.
In the end, she was the one who turned her life around and made it become what it is today. Listening to the song, you can hear how personal this song is for RØRY. It is such a raw and powerful track that shows how far she’s come over the years. The song maintains that angry energy we have heard from other tracks on this album while also having a more gentle feel that shows how she is reflecting on her life in the song.
Hopeful yet sombre, SORRY I’M LATE is the track that really defines this whole album for me. It really emphasises what this album is about – showing how far RØRY has come and how strange the journey has been, but more importantly, the fact that despite everything else, she is here now, and she is ready to show us all what she has in store for us.
“I’m always fucking late,” RØRY says, “so of course, I’m dropping my debut album when I’m 40. My excuse? I can’t exactly say my train was cancelled or that I was sick. Only, I was sick. For a long time. Sick with grief, pain, addiction—and eventually sick of my own bullshit. But I’m better now. Sobriety, therapy, a family. I never saw any of that coming.
“Restoration is my testimony of how I turned my shit show of a life around. It feels like the first hopeful record I’ve ever written. I want people who hate themselves and who are struggling with drinking and relationships to understand that someone can come at any moment and save them. And that person is themselves.”
My expectations for this album were met, to say the least. RØRY’s new album is insanely emotional while also giving everyone a piece of hope to clutch onto in dark times. It is a reflection of the struggles she has faced while getting to where she is today, and it showcases her feelings now that she is here in front of all of us showing her music off to the world.
Most importantly, RØRY wants to tell us that no matter what circumstances we may find ourselves in, it is vital that we keep pushing forward because there is always a way out, and there are always better days ahead.
2025 is looking like a great year if this is one of the albums we are starting the year with.
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