Empire Child is the new musical project of Ruth Rothwell. Having spent decades shaping music culture from the inside out, Ruth—formerly a senior A&R manager at MCA/Universal—played a defining role in the UK’s 90s dance boom, working across BCM Records and later MCA Publishing, where she helped develop artists including Zero 7, Basement Jaxx and Air, while also nurturing key songwriters behind era-defining hits such as Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” and Adele’s “Chasing Pavements.” Despite that success, songwriting remained her constant pull. “Songwriting is really my calling and I could no longer ignore that fact,” she says. That instinct now takes centre stage with Empire Child, her most personal body of work to date.
Her new album, The Empire Child, produced by Madrid-based jazz professor and producer Mariano Diaz, is rooted in Ruth’s own story, shaped by her upbringing in London and her mixed heritage. Blending jazz, soul, singer-songwriter intimacy and subtle reggae influences, the record explores identity, resilience and self-belief, with themes of letting go of the past and finding the courage to move forward. “The music represents my culture growing up in London,” Ruth explains. “Music will always bring us back together.”
The project first emerged with debut single “Trace the Race,” a deeply personal reflection on ancestry and belonging, inspired by her Indo-Jamaican mother from the Windrush generation and her father from Cape Town, South Africa, who fled apartheid. It was followed by “Negativity Be Gone,” a track centred on reclaiming control over the thoughts and influences that shape our lives, pushing back against self-doubt with a clear sense of purpose.
Now, with the album’s focus track “Cut The Ties,” Empire Child sharpens that message into something direct and freeing. Set against a breezy, jazz-leaning backdrop, the song is about knowing when to walk away from relationships and situations that no longer serve you. It carries an uplifting energy, grounded in a simple but powerful idea: choosing who and what belongs in your life.
Written between London and Spain, the album unfolds as a reflection on lived experience, from heritage and migration to healing and growth. “Music is my sanctuary, a way to deal with life on life’s terms,” Ruth says. With Empire Child, she steps forward not as the architect behind other artists’ success, but with a voice and story entirely her own.