Kevin Bronson on November 16th, 2011

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There is retro-pop that’s retro first and pop second, and there’s retro-pop that abides the song over aesthetic. On “Try Again,” the new single from Nicholas Ruth, the L.A. composer-songwriter doesn’t tumble into any production morass; he merely lets his Motown mojo take over, and to great effect. Ruth is the former guitarist/backing vocalist in the L.A. band Malbec, who have gone quietly into the night after a full-length album and seven EPs (although a posthumous collection of unreleased music is on the way). Last spring, Ruth, who has spent part of the past year producing with such artists as Blaqstarr and Mikky Ekko, released an EP titled “A Rounders Requiem” that saw the songwriter trading in some scrumptious electro-pop. He explains that “Try Again” is the first in a new “conceptual collection of songs.” “I don’t write with a specific style in mind,” he says. “I like to let the song unfold the way it wants to.” “Try Again” revealed itself as a soul-pop gem, and the beautifully executed video, featuring Jade Dornfeld and Nikki McCauly, is the work of director Barry McLaughlin and photographer Mike James. Can I get some handclaps?

||| Download: “Try Again”

||| Also: Stream “Time (The Living Remain)” and “Believe” from his downloadable “A Rounders Requiem” EP: