THE RUBENS’ NEW ALBUM ‘0202’ – OUT NOW!

by the partae
THE RUBENS' NEW ALBUM '0202' - OUT NOW!
  • 0202 – a forward thinking album for a backwards year is the band’s first self-engineered and produced album
  • The album features singles ‘Live In Life’, ‘Heavy Weather’, ‘Time of My Life’ and current single ‘Masterpiece’
  • First single ‘Live In Life’ was nominated for ARIA Song of the Year, was the 4th biggest Australian song of 2020 & is now certified Double Platinum with over 40 million streams
  • Their 0202 album tour through April-Jul this year will be their biggest Australian headline tour to date
  • Over their career to date The Rubens have 7 singles that have surpassed Gold status + a Gold and Platinum album
Ivy League Records are thrilled to release 0202 – the exceptional fourth album by local legends, The Rubens! Loaded with effortless jams like ‘Live In Life’ (double Platinum, ARIA Song of the Year nominee & the fourth biggest Australian song of 2020 (ARIA)), ‘Time Of My Life’‘Heavy Weather’ & current single ‘Masterpiece’, with 0202 the band have fully transformed into an alt-rock/pop powerhouse and, for the first time, have self-produced an album that will have people re-evaluating what they thought they knew about The Rubens.

By the time album opener and absolute belter ‘Masterpiece’ comes to an end, it becomes very clear that The Rubens have emerged inspired from all the twists and turns thrown at them in 2020 and injected a new energy into this incredible record. 0202, a forward-thinking album for a backward year, sees The Rubens creating a sound that effortlessly dances across genres – alt-rock, rnb, pop and hip hop all collide into something uniquely their own.

The band unexpectedly found themselves self-producing what would become their most “pop” sounding album so far, recording everything together in their friend’s Camden-based studio, a converted WWII communications building, simply known as The Bunker, with bass player Will Zeglis taking on the role of engineer. Together they built each track up, starting with drummer Scott Baldwin’s beats, piecing the whole thing together part by part. When they felt like they’d taken a song as far as they could on their own, they would send it on to one of three producers – Kon Kersting, Rob Amoruso or Eric J – depending on what the song needed and who they thought would be best suited to the track, to add extra production and mix the track.

While the recording process might have been a love-in, the album itself isn’t all rainbows and sunshine. With song titles like ‘Muddy Evil Pain’, tunes about retrospectively realising you lost The One (‘Masterpiece’) and lyrics like, “All this heavy weather in my chest again, will I ever see a change?” (‘Heavy Weather’) there’s a melancholic undercurrent to 0202. “It’s a little darker than the last album,” Elliott agrees. “Thematically darker and sonically too. Even though it’s pretty and hi-fi, there’s a lot of darkness there.” If you saw the title of album closer ‘Party’ and were expecting a good time, summer jam, think again. “With anything we do, we can’t help but throw a bit of pessimism in there,” smiles Sam. “We can’t write a song that’s just purely happy and uplifting. I guess it’s just a realistic view, y’know?”

It’s this clash of light and dark that makes 0202, the band’s fourth studio album, such a compelling listen. After four albums and almost ten years together, The Rubens show no sign of slowing down. By being true to their creative instincts, the band have delivered an album brimming with big ideas, clever production and bucket loads of excitement. Or as Elliott simply puts it, “I think it’s our best yet.”

0202 follows third album LO LA RU, which featured hits ‘Never Ever (feat Sarah)’ (Double Platinum), ‘Million Man’ (Certified Gold), ‘God Forgot’ (Certified Gold) and lead to sold out shows and a 42-date Arena tour supporting megastar P!NK. Their second album Hoops saw the band sell out headline shows at Hordern Pavilion and Margaret Court Arena and included hits ‘Hallelujah’‘Cut Me Loose’ and of course the 4 x Platinum the hit title track, which topped the 2015 triple j Hottest 100, while their debut self-titled LP was home to ‘My Gun’ (Certified Platinum), ‘Lay It Down’ (Certified Gold), ‘The Best We Got’ and more fan-favourites.

The Rubens are currently half way through their regional NSW album launch shows, and will  kick off their official 0202 album tour from April – July, playing metro cities as well as regional venues across their biggest headline tour to date.

The Rubens – 0202
Out now through Ivy League Records
Buy/stream here
0202 tracklisting:
1. Masterpiece
2. Heavy Weather
3. Live In Life
4. Time Of My Life
5. Thank You
6. Muddy Evil Pain
7. Holiday
8. Explosions
9. State Of My Mind
10. Apple
11. Back To Back
12. Party
THE RUBENS
0202 ALBUM LAUNCH SHOWS 2021

For more details head to therubensmusic.com

Fri-Feb-12-21 – Dubbo, NSW – Dubbo Convention Centre
Sat-Feb-13-21 – Port Macquarie, NSW – Port Macquarie Glasshouse
Sat-Feb-20-21 – Thirroul, NSW – Anita’s Theatre

THE RUBENS
0202 ALBUM TOUR 2021

Supported by Alice Ivy

Sat-Apr-03-21 – Crooked River Winery – Gerringong, NSW
Thu-Apr-08-21 – Fortitude Music Hall – Brisbane, QLD
Fri-Apr-09-21- Moncrieff Entertainment – Bundaberg, QLD
Sat-Apr-10-21 – Highfields Tavern – Toowoomba, QLD
Fri-Apr-16-21 – Enmore Theatre – Sydney, NSW
Sat-Apr-17-21 – Bar On The Hill – Newcastle, NSW
Wed-Apr-28-21 – Riverlinks Westside – Shepparton, VIC
Fri-Apr-30-21 – Forum – Melbourne, VIC
Wed-May-05-21 – Whitestar Hotel – Albany, WA
Thu-May-06-21 – The River – Margaret River, WA
Fri-May-07-21 – Freo Social – Fremantle, WA
Sun-May-09-21 – Wintersun Hotel – Bluff Point, WA
Fri-May-14-21 – The Gap View Hotel – Alice Springs, NT
Thu-May-20-21 – Altar Bar – Hobart, TAS
Fri-May-21-21 – Altar Bar – Hobart, TAS
Sat-May-22-21 – Saloon Bar – Launceston, TAS
Sun-May-23-21 – Forth Pub – Forth, TAS
Wed-May-26-21 – The Leichardt Hotel – Rockhampton, QLD
Thu-May-27-21 – Seabreeze – Mackay, QLD
Fri-May-28-21 – Otherwise Bar – Townsville, QLD
Sat-May-29-21 – Tanks Arts Centre – Cairns, QLD
Wed-Jun-09-21 – Beer Deluxe – Albury, NSW
Thu-Jun-10-21 – The Whalers Hotel – Warrnambool, VIC
Fri-Jun-11-21 – Torquay Hotel – Torquay, VIC
Thu-June-24-21 – Canberra Theatre, ACT
Sat-Jul-3-21 – Shadows, Mount Gambier, VIC
Sat-Jul-24-21 – The Gov – Adelaide, SA

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