Take his song Unsaid, for example, which was written after the suicide of a close friend. Hard Sometimes, perhaps, which brought him to actual tears in the studio while writing together with musician and songwriter Wrabel in Laurel Canyon. Or Don’t Cry, which poured out of him after an extended breakup. ​“Every lyric that you hear [in Don’t Cry] is either exaggerated or did happen,” he says. ​“I had a relationship with this girl that I broke up with because of many reasons, and I really felt like I had a pretty strong argument, and she just wouldn’t accept it. So for weeks afterwards, I was getting insanely long texts saying why I was making a mistake. It got frustrating because even though I broke up with this girl, it never really felt like I did. Obviously, it’s way better now. This was like a year and a half ago and we’re all good friends now. But yeah, it was about that time.”

Don’t Cry is also about being a sad boy – something he is intimately acquainted with (“I definitely prefer writing sad songs”). Three of the seven tracks on Free Time are moody ballads. ​“I was a very, very emotional kid,” he admits, taking off his hat to run his fingers through his hair before plopping it back on. ​“I was crying all the time. I was very open about my feelings. And every time I had girl trouble, even if I was like nine, if I liked a girl and she didn’t like me back, I’d just cry.”

As he’s constantly on the road, Ruel has no time to date anyone, despite the thousands of disciples who would willingly sell their last kidney on the black market for the chance at a date. Ostensibly, Ruel’s tears should have dried up in the girl department by now. Most of his fanbase is, judging by the decibel levels at his shows, very young. It doesn’t bother him. ​“I’m definitely not writing for teen girls. I write for myself, and I try to make it relatable to as many people as possible. That’s really my main aim, to find experiences, if they’re personal or not personal, and just see if I can make this relate to 50-year-olds or 15-year-olds.”