Ruel Vincent van Dijk found himself overflowing with ideas following his 2023 debut album, 4TH WALL. In fact, the artist best known by his first name had amassed around 200 songs before embarking upon a culling process that reduced that epic slate to just 11. The remaining tracks include team-ups with some top industry names, including repeat collaborator M-Phazes and many new creative partners. Dan Wilson and Leroy Clampitt helmed and co-wrote “Wild Guess,” a snappy ode to asserting post-breakup independence. Wilson also co-penned “Destroyer,” a painfully acute account of betrayal produced by Kenny Beats. Since his first album, van Dijk has changed labels and relocated from Sydney to Los Angeles, embarking on a fresh chapter while still in his early twenties. And despite the lovelorn themes of the aforementioned songs, there’s a lot of upbeat romantic promise elsewhere. With its dreamy high notes and suave R&B turns, the opening “Only Ever” is a convincing plea for commitment. Echoing some of the same 1980s-style production, “The Suburbs” hits big pop notes on the way to fantasizing away about a shared life spent away from the hectic pace of the city. It would be easy for van Dijk’s supple, persuasive vocal delivery to steal the show here, but he backs it up with songwriting and arrangements that feel at once striking and streamlined.