The Rubens Announce New Album, ‘Hoops’

The Rubens are preparing to return with a vengeance, today unveiling the details of their eagerly-anticipated sophomore album. The band have announced that the follow-up to their certified gold self-titled 2012 debut, The Rubens, will be entitled Hoops and released on Friday, 7th August.

Making the announcement on triple j this morning, the band explained that they named the LP Hoops after one of the songs on the album’s tracklist.

“The song is about relationships, but then we called the record Hoops for a number of reasons,” explained keyboardist Elliott Margin. “Going round in circles, jumping through hoops to get something released into the world, a lot of those kind of things going on.”

“Hoops is just so simple and punchy and it kind of gives some good imagery as well, which we used in the album art.”

The Menangle-bred group recorded their latest album in New York and, late last year, frontman Sam Margin told Music Feeds that fans can expect a more “mature” sound from the forthcoming disc, with team Ruben trying to capture a bit more of their live sound.

“The first record, in my opinion, although I really liked it, we ended up with an album that didn’t represent the way we play live as much,” Margin explained. “We had a hell of a lot of people coming up, being surprised at our sound in general live and how big it sounds and it’s a little bit more wild on stage. And I think we’re trying to have that element as well.

“We’ve kept the soul vocals, the R&B style, rock ’n’ roll vocal mix, that’s important,” he continued. “But we’re branching out a little bit more in terms of sound on this record.”

The band also premiered a brand new track from the new disc, dubbed Hallelujah, on the j’s this morning. The new song will be released tomorrow on iTunes, where you’ll also be able to pre-order the new album.

Those lucky enough to get their hands on tickets can catch The Rubens’ set at Splendour In The Grass 2015 this July.

Gallery: The Rubens @ Splendour In The Grass 2013 / Photos By Zoltan Blazer

Watch: The Rubens – Never Be The Same