The Ringer Soundtrack reflect on a love gone sour with the seismic ‘In Real Time’
Boston alt-pop trio deliver an expansive new single that twists and aches with nostalgic emotion
OUT NOW: Listen to ‘In Real Time’ via Spotify
Produced by The Arcitype at The Bridge Sound & Stage in Cambridge
with Jonathan Ulman on drums and percussion
Listen to February single ‘Last Lie’ on Spotify
BOSTON, Mass. [August 15, 2025] – Earlier this year, a heartfelt video of a man reflecting on the passage of time by holding up an empty spool of wire went viral for the wrong reasons. It wasn’t the person’s heavy emotions about all the little moments and things that happened while that spool was slowly unfurling that made the clip explode across social media, but instead his wife’s cold, cruel and unexpected reaction. She laughed at him, and mocked his sentimentality. It depicted a snapshot of a couple whose flame had burnt out, who were no longer connecting on an emotional level, and who were clearly masking something, somewhere, that made them lose their connection over the years.
It’s a feeling many of us go through; relationships grow tired and stale, and the people involved stop growing entirely. But in that moment, the one-sided nostalgic romanticism showed that sometimes we can’t turn back the clock to rekindle a lost love. Sometimes, it’s gone when we don’t realize it, and when we do, it’s too late.
That feeling is at the core of The Ringer Soundtrack’s expansive “In Real Time,” a slow-burning new single of seismic ache and emotion from the eclectic Boston alt-pop trio set for streaming release on Friday, August 15.
Produced by The Arcitype and recorded at The Bridge Sound & Stage in Cambridge with award-winning session drummer Jonathan Ulman, this new offering pulls the band – vocalist and pianist Mick Coyne, guitarist Brandon Forbes Dalrymple, and bassist Ross Goodwin – out of its comfort zone, both collaboratively and sonically. And that coincidentally falls in line with the track’s lyrical themes of confronting a relationship gone bad with an uncomfortable realization.
“‘In Real Time’ is a song about that feeling where you wish you could sort of rewind a relationship to the sweet spot,” says Coyne. “You know you're past that moment, you know you're the one that made the mistake, and you know now you're frantically trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube for that comment or mistake you made but you just can't. All that's left is sitting back with your feeling of regret... with maybe some acknowledgement that the narrator's behavior is the weak spot or the reason the relationship failed.”
As Forbes Dalrymple puts it: “This song hits me in the feels. It’s a dropped phone call, a goodbye that was too fast, a last hug -- it’s all the things you will never get back, wrapped into a moment.”
Crafting moments and then delivering them through a sentimental lens has been at the forefront of The Ringer Soundtrack’s creative drive since inception. The follow-up to “Last Lie,” a Valentine’s Day single that found the trio exploring more electronic-pop textures, “In Real Time” amplifies the guitars, the production, and the voice of a band intent on leaning into the more gravitational side of music, a soundtrack for modern life where feelings and moments dictate our emotions one beat and lyric at a time.
“We try to capture our moods,” adds Goodwin. “‘In Real Time’ was the perfect song for us to be moody with our output rather than the more pop-centered approach we have released recently. This is a powerful track that pushed our boundaries and really leans into our emotions.”
It was also the perfect composition to bring to The Arcitype, the award-winning producer and three-time Boston Music Awards winner known for his razorsharp work in the hip-hop world with the likes of Action Bronson, Michael Christmas, REKS, and his own project STL GLD. Providing synths on the track, Arc enlisted his bandmate Ulman, one of the most in-demand drummers in the Boston area and himself an award-winning session musician who has taken home an unprecedented eight BMAs in the category.
Accustomed to handling all their recording and production in-house, with Coyne and Forbes Dalrymple handling the bulk of the songwriting duties and Goodwin behind the board, The Ringer Soundtrack were eager to collaborate on “In Real Time” to add a new dynamic that matches its anthemic, ambitious drive.
“Working with Arc was definitely taking us out of our comfort zone,” Goodwin notes. “We are so used to steering the ship. Working with someone new, helping us shape our sound, and work at their own pace was a lesson we never learned our entire time together as The Ringer Soundtrack; it has always been by our terms. This was awesome because it showed that when you are in the right hands, you can sit back and be a musician.”
Coyne says allowing The Arcitype and Ulman to use their experience to take “In Real Time” to new creative places gave them a new perspective on their process. And while the trio wrote the song itself with relative quickness – a hallmark of The Ringer Soundtrack’s prolific creative output over the past several years, quick to capture the spark a fresh idea usually provides – the more paced recording and production timeline allowed the song to breathe a little bit more than that of the band’s prior work.
“Going to record with Arc and Jon for the first time, we were so conditioned to having all of our own intentions and ideas regarding how a song should sound and how it’s structured and it was an interesting experience to put that aside and let them steer the ship,” admits Forbes Dalrymple. “It ended up sounding great, and it’s exactly what we linked up with them for - we don’t have a keyboardist or a drummer ‘in the band’ anymore, and they just perfectly slid right into the fold.”
It all adds up to establish a bit of a new chapter for The Ringer Soundtrack with “In Real Time,” opening up some collaboration lanes and continuing to shift their creative focus into overdrive. Since the pandemic and a few recent personal setbacks experienced, the trio has tapped into their creativity to tell stories and capture moods within their music, taking both traditional and modern pop sensibilities and filtering them through their own genre-hopping styles. As Forbes Dalrymple puts it: “Staying in a songwriting mode is our focus.”
And in The Ringer Soundtrack’s collective writing room, nothing is ever off the table, and the chemistry between the longtime friends and collaborators shines through in their sonic confidence. That’s been especially apparent in a post-pandemic world, where the band members have also faced their share of personal, private challenges.
“When you are faced with reality and mortality, you start to rank and prioritize what your life should be about and how you want to be remembered by the people that love you,” Coyne reveals. “You stop worrying so much about the unimportant and start realizing what makes you feel alive... Then you go do it.”
From here, more music from The Ringer Soundtrack is on the way, and a few of their tracks will be featured on an upcoming indie horror flick called Bad Apples, set to premiere at the Dead of Winter Horror Festival in Worcester. One of their more pop-punk-leaning tracks – a core sound of the group’s early output – is skillfully used in a crucial skate park scene.
“It’s surreal,” Coyne admits.
For a band that’s been cranking out music with conviction for the past several years, “In Real Time” suggests The Ringer Soundtrack are just getting started. And while the track itself laments a relationship gone stale, like the dude holding the spool of wire marveling at how fast life comes and goes, each member of the band would have a far different reaction if presented with that type of scenario. This has been a relationship that has lasted.
“You know that scene in An American Tail when Fievel is staring up at the sky wondering if there’s someone out there just like him looking up at the same stars?” Coyne says with a laugh. “That’s Ross and Brando. It was a miracle we found each other – now we’re never letting go.”
It’s the spool of wire holding them together, even with some newfound reinforcements from others.
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The Ringer Soundtrack is:
Mick Coyne: Vocals and piano
Brandon Forbes Dalrymple: Guitars
Ross Goodwin: Bass
‘In Real Time’ production credits:
Performed by The Ringer Soundtrack
Written by Mick Coyne and Brandon Forbes Dalrymple
Produced, engineered, recorded, mixed and mastered by The Arcitype
at The Bridge Sound & Stage, Cambridge MA
Drums by Jonathan Ulman
Synthesizers by The Arcitype
‘In Real Time’ single artwork:
The Ringer Soundtrack short bio:
Known for their seamless blend of analog warmth and digital precision, The Ringer Soundtrack crafts sparkling, dynamic pop songs that transcend era-specific labels. Drawing on both vintage synthesizers and cutting-edge production techniques, the band’s work taps into the energy of pop icons while pushing boundaries into contemporary realms. Their music captures the essence of unforgettable pop melodies. Put simply, The Ringer Soundtrack creates a sonic world where the past and the present are not at odds but exist in harmony.
