Been Doin' It for a Bit is the debut studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Ruby Fields, released through Space 44 Records and Flightless on 24 September 2021. The album debuted at number 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart.[8] At the J Awards of 2021, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.[9]
Background and recording
Ruby Fields recorded the album in Waiuku, New Zealand in early 2020, but the sessions were cut short when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. They ultimately regrouped to complete the record at The Music Farm, Byron Bay later in the year. The Australian Independent Record Labels Association said "The finished product is a declaration of individual and artistic independence that reflects the complexities of growing up, making mistakes, and ultimately making peace with one's fallibility."[1]
Matt Doria from NME Australia called the album a "gut-punching debut from an indie-rocker wiser than her years."[12]
Dylan Marshall from The AU Review named it "A genuinely fun and charismatically easy listen" and "the edge of summer album you've been looking forward to after a long and bleak winter".[10]
Shannon Garner from Clash felt that "the album is everything that Fields has built her name on – a modern, no-bullshit personality, and is an honest celebration of where she is at in life."[11]
Al Newstead from ABC said "Each song on Been Doin' It for a Bit is packed with detail and memorable lines that convey so much more than their seemingly banal settings initially appear. From kitchens to pubs, backyards to bottle-os, Ruby is capable of being hilarious and heartfelt all at once, having you crying into a frothie as much as laughing over one."[13]
In a review for Blunt Magazine, Mary Varvaris wrote that the album was "even greater than expected", stating that Fields created an album packed with "punchy, energetic, honest pop-punk anthems" with an "Aussie spin".[3]
