"Rushing Back" is a song by Australian electronic musician Flume featuring Australian singer/songwriter Vera Blue. It was released on 27 September 2019 via Future Classic. The track was first premiered on radio Triple J on 26 September 2019 after being performed live for the first time during Flume's Osheaga Festival set in August.[1] "Rushing Back" reached a new peak of number 8 on the ARIA Singles Chart in the week after Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2019 aired, where it was voted in second place.[2] The song features on FIFA 20.
At the AIR Awards of 2020, the song was nominated for Best Independent Dance, Electronica or Club Single.[3]
The song was nominated for Most Performed Australian Work and won Most Performed Dance Work at the APRA Music Awards of 2021[4][5]
Background
Speaking on Triple J, Flume said it was Vera Blue's 'vocal gymnastics' that really caught his attention, particularly on her 2015 single "Hold". Flume said "I heard her song 'Hold' and I was like, this is insane. Her voice, the melody... As soon as I heard that I was like, we have to find this person and work with her."[6]
In 2016, Flume collaborated with Vera Blue (and Vince Staples, Kučka and Ngaiire) and covered Ghost Town DJ's' "My Boo" for Triple J's Like a Version.[7]
In 2019, Flume and Vera Blue met in Los Angeles to record the song.[6]
Blue said "Harley (aka Flume) threw me a bunch of ideas and I was riffing over the songs, just humming melodies that came to my head based on how the song made me feel. There were a couple of ideas I resonated with but I really fell in love with this one as soon as I heard the first few chords, which eventually blossomed into 'Rushing Back'."[8]
Debbie Carr from Triple J complimented the song's sound, stating: "'Rushing Back' feels like a natural evolution for the Sydney producer, taking the jagged, futuristic production we first heard from him back on Skin and pushing it into a new melodic earworm territory."[6]
Lake Schatz from Consequence of Sound was positive of the collaboration, writing: "The two drum up a contagious chemistry, as Vera Blue's featherweight voice swiftly floats above, below, and around Flume's warping, bent production. It's almost as though they've imagined the feeling of 'rushing back' but in audio form."[9]
Music video
An official music video was uploaded onto YouTube on 13 November 2019. It was directed by longtime Flume collaborator, Jonathan Zawada.[10] The video features Flume and Vera Blue seated next to each other in the same graffiti-coloured Nissan that was used as the cover art and visualizer for Flume's Hi This Is Flume mixtape.[10]Dancing Astronaut called the video "a visual appendage to the relationship reflection inherent in the lyrics".[10]
