Our “Five Minutes With” feature this week is about folk-rock band, Reuben and The Dark. Their newest album, un | love, is Reuben’s, foreman of Reuben and The Dark, most honest and captivating album to date, opening a window into one of the most dramatic times in Bullock’s life. The spirited Canadian band’s third record – following 2018’s Arms of a Dream, and 2014’s debut Funeral Sky – tells Reuben’s story of endings and hope for the future. The forthcoming collection is a bare, cathartic exploration of life’s undeniable crossroads, and the fateful depths that await there.
Produced by Reuben and the Dark with Marcus Paquin (The National, Timber Timbre, Local Natives) and Kevin Drew (of Broken Social Scene), un | love evokes the raw emotion of the songs with anthemic, atmospheric sound. In comparison to the polished songs of Arms of a Dream, the new album shows a drastic turn in Reuben’s ease as a writer and freedom as a recording artist. His voice is at once unbridled and fallible. Through the dense imagery of his poetry shines a light shot straight from Reuben’s soul in a natural way unlike any time before.
Reuben and the Dark has shared stages with the likes of Vance Joy, Serena Ryder, The Strumbellas, Boy & Bear, and The Paper Kites. Reuben and the Dark’s music has been heard in Handmaid’s Tale, The HIghwaymen, A Million Little Things, American Gods, Grey’s Anatomy, Ray Donovan and more.
Name: Reuben and the Dark
Genre: Folk-rock
Founded: 2012
# of Albums: 3
Latest Release: ‘un | love’
Latest Single: “Hold Your Head High”
Latest Video: weightlessness
Favourite Local Restaurant:
Blue Star Diner
Favourite band as a teenager:
Modest Mouse, Bright Eyes..
Favourite band now:
This is a tough one.. Father John Misty or Sharon Van Etten.. I really don’t have a favourite band.
Guilty Pleasure Song:
My Girl
Live Show Ritual:
Some power posturing.. Singing.. laughing. It’s important to just feel relaxed and confident. I like to spend some time alone with a guitar before shows.
Favourite local artist:
So many. Ghostkeeper, Preoccupations, Samantha Savage, Labcoast, John Gerrard, Forest Tate.. lots of good new bands too.
Nose Hill or Fish Creek?
Nose Hill. I grew up in the NW
EP or LP?
LP
Early bird or night owl?
I’ve been living in Joshua Tree.. I like to ride with that desert sun.
Road or studio?
Both
Where can we follow you?
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Any shows or albums coming up?
February 28 at The Palace Theatre
