WATCH: Ruthie Collins’ “Hypocrite”

Sidewalk Records recording artist Ruthie Collins’ dreamy blend of heartfelt lyrics and aching vocals hits a new peak with “Hypocrite,” a power ballad about hurt, honesty, and the ripple effects of a rough breakup. The music video debuted today. Watch it above.

“Hypocrite” showcases Collins at her best: occupying the uncharted territory between genres, swirling together the southern sounds of pedal steel and Telecaster guitar with the pop/rock punch of a meteoric chorus. She calls the track “a song about that thing we all do: pretend we’re totally ok when the sky is actually falling down all around us.”

“A relationship I really didn’t want to end was clearly slipping away from me, and even though I was trying to pretend I was ok with it all, I was a complete wreck on the inside,” Collins says, remembering the night she co-wrote “Hypocrite” in a 1973 Airstream trailer with fellow road warrior Natalie Stovall (Runaway June), who also lends backup vocals. “I hope ‘Hypocrite’ lets people know that even though we’re all trying our best to keep it together, there’s so much freedom in owning your emotions — in moving through them instead of blocking them — and that there is true healing and love on the other side.”

Like the song itself, the video is a cinematic and dynamic clip that makes no attempt to hide the hurt of its creator. Collins roots her songwriting in honesty, and “Hypocrite” — which arrives one year after her 2020 album, Cold Comfort — highlights that commitment to truth.

“I think we can live in a world right now where we can just be who we are,” she says. “Feel your feelings. Speak your truth. I don’t feel the need to fit my music into a category, because life doesn’t fit into a category.”