SHARE NEW SINGLE NEVER EVER (FEAT. SARAH)

ANNOUNCED AS SPECIAL GUEST SUPPORT ON P!NK’S AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND TOURS

Toronto, ON – April 17, 2018 – On June 29^th, beloved Menangle, New South Wales band, The Rubens, will release their third album, LO LA RU – a bold and confident record that effortlessly picks up where their Hottest 100 topping single, Hoops, left off. The album is available for pre-order now via digital, CD and LP formats, plus various merchandise bundles. The group is also excited to share the powerful new single, Never Ever, featuring Sarah Aarons, which premiered on Friday with Indie88.

Additionally, the band announced today that they would be joining P!nk on her massive, 40-date Beautiful Trauma tour in Australia and New Zealand. The tour runs from July to September, with tickets going on sale this Thursday (April 19). See below for full details.

On LO LA RU, The Rubens used the success of single, Hoops, as an opportunity to spread their creative wings, pushing their music into new territory that is exciting for them, and hopefully by extension, their audience as well.

The story of the album began at the 2013 Laneway Music Festival, where The Rubens befriended NYC rapper, EL-P (Run The Jewels) and his band, which included his Run The Jewels producers/collaborators, Wilder Zoby and Little Shalimar (aka Torbitt Schwartz). In 2017, this friendship turned into a musical collaboration when both producers flew out from the bustling streets of New York City to the band’s newly created recording studio, housed in a World War II communications bunker in the outskirts of Camden in Sydney’s deep South West. It was here that LO LA RU came to life.

Indeed, the album presents a fully realized sound that picks up on the R&B and hip hop influence that was hinted at on songs like Hoops, and Bitter End. Those stylistic references a brought to the forefront, without losing any of the soulful warmth that typified their earliest tracks, such as Lay It Down and My Gun, which won the band the adoration of fans all over Australia and the world.

Brothers, Elliott and Sam Margin, were on their way to Brooklyn to put the finishing touches on LO LA RU when they received an email letting them know that ARIA Award winning, Grammy Award nominated songwriter, Sarah Aarons, was in Sydney for the holidays, was a fan of theirs, and was keen to write a song with them. They thought, ‘why not?’ and went in to the studio with no expectations. In their mind, the album was done and whatever came out of the session would be an experiment in collaboration – something new for the band, or, much like Sarah’s long list of songwriting credits (LDRU/ZEDD & Alessia Cara, Dua Lipa, Jesse Ware), something for another artist to use. It wasn’t until the song sat with the band for a few days that they realized just how ‘Rubens’ the track was, and how much they wanted it on the new record.

“The day we met Sarah in the studio, she told us that her Grade 10 teacher introduced her to our song ‘Lay It Down’ and that is what inspired her to do music in Year 11 & 12. We were pretty blown away with that; a good sentiment to start writing a song together,” says Elliott of the collaboration. “The main chord structure and melody was something I had been fiddling with for a while but couldn't find the words or story for. After meeting Sarah and having a chat, we got sucked into the song and started throwing ideas around. Pretty quickly we realized it needed to be a duet and from there the story started to take shape."

The song is a relatable and heart-wrenching tale with Sam Margin and Sarah’s voices acting as yin and yang; so different, but so perfectly matched and harmonious within the track. Elliott continues, “The song became about these two lovers caught in the moment as their relationship drops away. There's to-ing and fro-ing as they pass blame and second guess their actions before they realize that what they had is already over.”

2018 has already been a huge year for the group. After last year’s release of the exuberant party jam, Million Man – the first taste of LO LA RU – the band played to local audiences at the likes of The Sydney Opera House and The Forum, before embarking on a global tour, which saw the band sell out shows in Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago and London. Indeed, the group is back and eager to build on the excitement of their first two albums, The Rubens, and Hoops, which have gone Platinum and Gold respectively in Australia.

ON TOUR WITH P!NK:
July 3/4/6 – Perth, WA – Perth Arena
July 7 – Melbourne, VIC/TAS – Rod Laver Arena
July 10/11/13/14 – Hindmarsh, SA – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
July 16/17/19/20/22/23/25/27/28 – Melbourne, VIC – Rod Laver Arena
August 3/4/6/7/9/11/12 – Sydney Olimpic Park, AUS – Qudos Bank Arena
August 14/15/17/18/20/21/23 – Boondall, QLD – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
August 28/29 – Melbourne, VIC/TAS – Rod Laver Arena
September 1 – Dunedin, NZ – Forsyth Barr Stadium
September 4/5/7/8 – Auckland, NZ – Spark Arena

DOWNLOAD – hi-res photo | DOWNLOAD – album cover artwork
DOWNLOAD – single artwork

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