Rumia is back with her arresting second full-length record, "Old Enough to Save Myself," a genre-melding achievement that sees strength in softness and poetry in pain. Over 12 deeply personal tracks, the Madrid-born artist crafts a sonically rich and emotionally raw work that combines English and Spanish lyrics with a nostalgic hybrid of '90s trip-hop, acoustic warmth, and introspective storytelling.
Spanning just over 36 minutes, Old Enough to Save Myself is a compressed, emotionally dense meditation on what it’s like to grow up, fall apart, and put yourself back together. It’s a meditation on identity and resilience, built around Rumia’s unmistakably gentle vocals and textured production that’s equally cinematic and confessional.
There’s the slow-boiling anthem for the emotionally weary “Don’t Wanna Grow Up”, blanketed in dreamy synths and aching honesty. It gets the push-and-pull of adulthood with gutting acuity, summoning the harried resignation of years accumulating. Meanwhile, “Not Enough” pulls from a shared desire, the feeling of trying hard but not measuring up. Rumia is vulnerable here, and her voice trembles above moody instrumentation that sounds as heartbroken as her lyrics.
Rumia sorts through pain throughout the album, and she also honors it. From family dynamics to personal reckonings, "Old Enough to Save Myself" reads like someone’s diary by candlelight, up close, fragile, and lighted by unobtrusive courage. Thanks to the bilingual nature of the project, another layer of depth is added, and Rumia speaks her truth in more than one language, embodying feelings that often stretch beyond the reach of words.
This is a rite of passage. "Old Enough to Save Myself" reminds us that salvation isn’t always dramatic; it rolls in waves, the release of an exhalation or a moment of clarity late at night in the silence of self-reflection. Rumia’s ability to grasp vulnerability and mold it into strength is a rare treasure, and this new venture cements her as one of the most powerfully emotionally charged voices in the indie-pop and trip-hop scenes.
Connect with Rumia: Instagram