An American Piano Duo Took Production Feedback, Started Over and Released a New Version
On 26 July 2026, Jenn Friedman and Ben Johnson of Ruby and Resin posted a 45-second video with a decision in it. The Fall had been out for less than two weeks. They were reworking the song after production feedback, and the version already out would be replaced when the new one was ready. That new version arrived on 22 September. The duo, from Denver, United States, took the long way to their single, and that decision is where its story starts.
Ruby and Resin’s The Fall is in the playlist below. The duo’s full run of coverage is on the Ruby and Resin profile. The single reached NewMusic.News through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news titles. Listen first, then read on for the story of its second version.
Two Weeks After Releasing The Fall, Ruby and Resin Decided to Start the Song Again
Before any of that, the song began in a single moment. Jenn Friedman was improvising at the piano, melody and words together, when a phrase arrived that she knew was something: the line I’m on my toes about it. From there, by her account, it was a matter of following where the song wanted to go, one chord and one word at a time.
The Fall became the first song Friedman and Ben Johnson recorded together. It came out on 13 July and runs to 3 minutes 14 seconds. Then the duo sent it to playlist curators, and the reply was that the production could be better. They said so in public, in a video titled Starting over!, and went back to work.
It was not the first time they had fixed a sound after the fact. When they entered Wind Chime in the Tiny Desk Contest, they ran short of time and sent the video in with audio from a phone’s microphone. Still, the next day they fixed it and uploaded a better version anyway.
That kind of turn has a famous precedent. The label of Sara Bareilles had encouraged her to keep writing. One day she sat down in a rehearsal space and wrote something for herself. The result, Love Song, became her debut single in 2007 and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also earned a Song of the Year nomination. Ruby and Resin have no label behind them, so the feedback came from curators instead, and they chose to act on it.
The Fall Returned on 22 September With Ben Johnson’s Production and Zeno Pittarelli’s Mix
So the version that matters now is the one released on 22 September. The duo redid every part of the recording, the drums included, while keeping the song’s structure and heart. They also gathered mix notes from several producers before Zeno Pittarelli mixed it. Jenn Friedman wrote the words and music, sings the lead and the backing vocals, and plays the piano. Ben Johnson produced it and plays electric guitar, electric bass, drums and synthesiser. The new take runs to 3 minutes 22 seconds, eight seconds longer than the July one.
The subject explains the title. In the duo’s telling, The Fall follows a hard road toward committing to one path. It swings between cautious doubt and bold declaration, with a tension it keeps trying to settle. A set of cards they shared on Facebook tells the same story another way: a woman who held herself back for decades lets her protective layer fall away and finds the will to be seen. The piano carries that arc, as it does across their music, and the result is wistful, unhurried indie pop.
What does the second version answer? The duo’s own choice gives the clearest reply. The September recording is the one they now put forward. The July take is still online as The Fall (Demo Version), so anyone curious can hear both and judge the distance. Their hope for it is simple: that it reaches whoever needs it and brings them a little closer to themselves.
From an Erasure Cover to The Fall, Ruby and Resin Split the Work
Their YouTube channel also holds a cover of Ship of Fools by Erasure, and the choice fits. Erasure are the English duo of Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, who wrote Ship of Fools together. It came out in February 1988 as the lead single from The Innocents and reached No. 6 in the UK. That partnership, one voice out front and one musician building the sound, is close to how Ruby and Resin work. Friedman takes the piano and the microphone, while Johnson plays everything else.
So who is it for? Listeners who want a piano-led song to slow down with. Fans of singer-songwriter pop with a full band behind it. And anyone curious how an independent record changes between a first take and a finished single. Ruby and Resin took the long way to The Fall, and both stops on that road are still there to hear.
NewMusic.News’s curator team: “We added The Fall to our Pop, Art Pop, Singer-Songwriter Pop playlist. Its first version is still public, which makes the finished one easy to appreciate. The duo listened, started again and kept the piano at the centre.”
Stream The Fall on Spotify and Apple Music. Follow Ruby and Resin on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.
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