is beatific. The light behind him forms a halo in the mid-morning sun, and he’s the figure of good health, in both a physical and spiritual sense. Born in Australia and now based on a 40-acre tranche of organic farmland on the American west coast, the songwriter – born Ry Cumming – is living life at his own pace, and that’s exactly how he wants it.

Now, though, it’s time to let others into that world. An ambitious project with finds the songwriter throwing open the doors of his studio, a collaborative endeavour that includes music, a new film, and a series of shows in Australia, Berlin, and London.

A decade on from breakout record ‘Dawn’, he’s still breaking boundaries. Discussing the project, RY X re-affirms the organic nature of the relationship. “When we starting talking about it,” he reflects, “the intentions became really clear. It felt like such a nice thing to be able to partner up and tell stories of making art, mentorship, community, and collaboration.”

“I’m a big believer in organic collaboration,” he says. “I enjoy being able to actually collaborate with the people that are close to you, that you have a close connection to. In my life – personally, and my career – that’s always been true. You become magnetised towards certain people.”

You’ll be guided into his studio, with RY X close to completing his new album, his first in four years. “Community is chosen family,” he says. “Especially being an artist. Travelling the world, belonging to people in so many places… the community becomes my sense of home, my sense of belonging.”

“When I’m making art, I’m making art with my people,” he affirms. “As an artist, I’ve traditionally been quite closed doors. It’s beautiful to have a witness to what we do. I think in some ways, it can be inspiring for other people to see. It can give them other pathways.”

CLASH notes that the project – allowing others into his world – puts RY X in a position of vulnerability, something he’s eager to embrace. “It’s amazing to share that on a wider scale,” he explains, “in a time where there’s a lot of disillusion of intimacy.”

“It’s not easy to show people your inner process and the parts of you that are a bit more raw, in terms of emotion. To be transparent around those things, that to me is the magic. That’s the gift. Having people come in and witness that is both terrifying and beautiful.”

A multi-faceted project that thrives on its organic nature, the relationship between RY X and GAP has allowed him to place some of the themes on his incoming record at the core of this endeavour. “It’s such a human record. It’s so intimate. Everything on this record is like played. It’s felt. There’s no samples. There’s no loops. There’s a level of honesty and rawness and vulnerability that I feel like I haven’t touched in a while.”

It’s a record that could only come from this space – the space currently in his heart, and the physical space he’s about to invite others into. The 40-acre ranch is close to the ocean, a necessity in his life; “I have a deep relationship with the ocean, both as a surfer and as a person. It’s a spiritual home, in a way.”

GAP have shared a beautiful campaign video for the project, in which RY X discusses the search for “cohesive self-expression”, something he wants to foreground in these collaborations. “In many ways my next record is about the essence point of self-expression at this moment in time,” he says. “And I want that to become reciprocal. The goal is not to take something from each other, but to actually share a story together.”

Empowering these conversations in a fluid and positive manner, GAP’s approach reflects the songwriter’s personal style. “I think style is a beautiful version of self-expression,” he notes. “We have different versions of ourselves. The nice thing about style is that we get to express it everyday. It can be super casual and mellow, or something different. Style is a voice of freedom for people to be able to speak without words.”

Culminating in live events in Australia, Berlin, and London, this new project finds GAP and RY X working beautifully in sync. The return of a special artist – executed in an incredibly special way – this is a delicately balanced partnership in which each part speaks to the next. 

RY X and GAP will collaborate on live experiences in Australia (September 9th), Berlin (September 16th) and London (September 23rd).