"Paraffin" is the first single by British

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

/ industrial band

Ruby Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapph ...

, from their debut album, '' Salt Peter'' (1995). It was released in the United Kingdom on September 4, 1995, and in the United States on November 7, 1995, by the

WORK Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an ani ...

/ Creation record labels. The song was written and produced by Lesley Rankine and

Mark Walk Skinny Puppy was a Canadian electro-industrial band formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group was among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crom ...

, and only charted in the UK and Australia, not in the US. As with all of Ruby's singles, "Paraffin" had a

promotional video In video production, a promotional video is marketing or advertising: Arts, media and entertainment * Promotional recording, an audio or video recording distributed to publicize a recording * Trailer (promotion), a commercial advertisement for a ...

made for it.

Release

The inside of the single jacket contains the following words: :''"A craving for singularity... I can speak so softly because I hold so much power LISTEN FEEL SMELL There's so much more power in subtlety"'' The phrase "I can speak so softly because I hold so much power" is the last lyric from the song "Heidi" on Ruby's first album ''Salt Peter.'' It also has three small pictures around the words, two of which would be the cover art for the follow-up singles "

Tiny Meat "Tiny Meat" is the second single from the debut album '' Salt Peter'' by the trip hop/ Industrial band Ruby. It is the band's best known song, and was released in 1995 in the United States by the WORK/ Creation labels. "Tiny Meat" is the only sing ...

" and " Hoops."

Critical reception

Everett True Everett True (born Jeremy Andrew Thackray on 21 April 1961) is an English music journalist and musician. He became interested in rock music after hearing The Residents, and formed a band with school friends. He has written and recorded as The ...

from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' felt that "Paraffin" "does possess a certain unsteady grace, a certain velveteen charm". Another ''Melody Maker'' editor,

Taylor Parkes Taylor Parkes (born 30 April 1972) is a British journalist. He is best known for his music journalism which appeared in ''Melody Maker'' from 1993 to 1998. Parkes was a champion of Saint Etienne, Pulp, Manic Street Preachers and the Romo scen ...

, called it "a pretty little modern pop thing, chukka-chukka-bang and a sweet sloping chorus and halfway-intriguing, probably half-baked lyrics about flower thieves in the back yard and old men poking bony fingers in people's eyes; elsewhere things are deeper and more unlikely." Simon Williams from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' wrote, "'Paraffin' is a stupendously contemporary record for someone who was last spotted hanging out with Ministry in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, flirting as it is with appropriate remixes, and all manner of groovy chilled-out tinklings. A crucial shame then that it has all the atmosphere of a

Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. His debut album ''Let Love Rule (Lenny Kravitz album), Let Love Rule'' (1989) was characterized by a blend of Rock music, rock ...

B-side and thus slopes by like a rather embarrassed badger." Gareth Grundy from '' Select'' described it as "more

Bomb the Bass Bomb the Bass is an electronic music alias of English musician and producer Timothy Simenon (born June 1967). As a name, Bomb the Bass came from Simenon's approach to collaging and mixing sounds whilst DJing in the mid- to late 1980s; he says ...

than

Big Black Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded first as a solo project by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band became a trio with an initial lineup that included guitarist Santiago Dur ...

Track listing

# "Paraffin" (Red Snapper mix) (4:25) -Rankine, Walk # "Paraffin" (single mix) (3:35) -Rankine, Walk # "Paraffin" ( Richard Fearless Dub) (8:05) -Rankine, Walk # "Paraffin" (Harpie mix) (3:53) -Rankine, Walk # "Heidi" (album version) (4:04) -Rankine, Walk :''total length:'' (24:08)

Production and personnel

The CD single was produced and written by

and Lesley Rankine. It was mixed and engineered by Walk, with Scott Crane as assistant engineer. The object photos in it were by Matthew Donaldson, and artwork and the other photos by Rankine, except the one of Rankine which was by Joseph Cultice.

Charts

References

External links

Official artist website (archived)
{{Authority control 1995 debut singles Ruby (band) songs