whatever works, by a kid named rufus

whatever works by a kid named rufus, released 14 July 2023 1. whatever works 2. the cute girl from brewster hall 3. how sweet does this sound? 4. eighteen (feat. Cole Bauer) 5. moving across the world sucks 6. tryhard 7. liability 8. running away from whatever you call paradise 9. i hate being cool 10. a conversation between ian and dan 11. stuck in san antonio 12. everybody hates me “whatever works” is an album about Rufus’ first year in the United States. It talks about homesickness, adulting, love, lust, responsibilities, and all the struggles they faced as they start a new life. Transitioning into adulthood is already a hideous process, even under the best of circumstances. For Malaysian-born bedroom-pop performer Rufus Sivaroshan (they/them), who performs as a kid named rufus, leaving home was exponentially more challenging. Today, 20-year-old Rufus is thriving at Syracuse University, where they major in music business while simultaneously fostering a burgeoning music career. The obstacles in their journey, however, are captured on their open-hearted, ultra-catchy debut LP, titled "whatever works" via Nettwerk. “The thing that stuck out to me, as I was starting to write this album, was that I had been in the US for a year, and I’d undergone a lot of changes,” rufus adds. “Moving here, navigating adult life on my own without any parental supervision or support. I wanted to write about all those experiences. Figuring out my life here in the States, everything is different. The way people act is different. Everything was unpredictable. Every single life instance that I talk about on the album was unpredictable. So how do you deal with things that are unpredictable? You say fuck it, and you just go with the flow. Whatever works.”