REUBEN AND THE DARK SHARE “ALL MY FRIENDS” FROM UPCOMING LP

Photo Credit: Carly Foulkes // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Today, Reuben and the Dark are sharing another new track from their upcoming LP, In Lieu Of Light, due out September 9, 2022 via Arts & Crafts. "All My Friends” is an impassioned ballad on the magic of being surrounded by loved ones with frontman Reuben Bullock singing ‘When all my friends are gone, tell me where will I be’. The band’s spirited alt-folk mastery is illuminated by Bullock’s mesmerizing emotion, draped over dramatic piano and rousing strings, while raucous guitars echo in the distant desert. With "All My Friends", the Calgary-bred Joshua Tree-based outfit offers one of its most elegant and evocative hymns, a song of togetherness hung deftly on the precipice of loneliness.

"This song sprung from a chorus I had in my head for a long time,” says Bullock. “It was never supposed to feel sad, but when I sing it, it always does. It wasn't until being isolated from so many friends and family that I realized the power of the lyrics. The verses and bridge were a culmination of events in my life during those months. Monumental moments of disruption that sent shivers down my spine, and immediately found their way into the song."

WATCH / SHARE “ALL MY FRIENDS” HERE
BUY / STREAM “ALL MY FRIENDS” HERE

MORE ABOUT IN LIEU OF LIGHT
Reuben and the Dark has long nurtured a bond with its audience that transcends the power of human communion with music as the chosen vehicle. In Lieu Of Light, a collection of songs as bare and unguarded as any frontman Reuben Bullock has offered before. 

Recalling the spontaneity of the band’s resounding 2013 arrival Funeral Sky, the eleven songs of In Lieu Of Light are both humble and vast, flourishing from the simplicity of gentle piano and guitar – at times favouring the delicate frame of its intimacy, at others conceding to the anthems in its melodies. It is honest heart-based music, wide open yet lonesome, and begging connection. 

WATCH / STREAM “WANDERER” HERE

“This album had no expectations put on it, it felt very free of form in any creative way. It is a snapshot of songs I was writing at a particular time, when recording them felt like a necessary letting go,” recounts Reuben. “There was a magic to that experimentation that felt natural to me.”

In Lieu Of Light was recorded throughout 2021 when at times for many the world seemed at an excruciating standstill. Reuben’s pensive lyrics, always known for their environmental resonance, turn more inward here. There is an element of personal, deeply relatable soul-searching at play, a perseverance through darkness, grief, escapism, and a subtle celebration of this despair that we have all confronted.

PRE-ORDER / PRE-SAVE IN LIEU OF LIGHT HERE

From the hymnal meditation of “Read Your Mind” to the wayfinding reflections of “Traveler of Swords”, In Lieu Of Light is at once Reuben and the Dark’s most varied yet most unified album to date. Bullock’s commitment to a more relaxed mode of songwriting removed one of the few remaining barriers between the band and its inextricably devoted audience. The cumulative, exultant power of his songs, be it shared joy or shared sadness, elevates the experience of In Lieu of Light to a heightened level. 

WATCH / SHARE “COMING LIKE A STORM” HERE

Recorded by Graham Lessard in Calgary at OCL Studios, Brock Geiger at Reuben’s home studio in Joshua Tree, and Joel Shearer in Los Angeles, In Lieu Of Light finds Reuben in harmony with the studio as his instrument, and the band with its intuition and embellishments.

In addition to songs from the recently released Coming Like A Storm EP, In Lieu Of Light includes collaboration with the Kainai-Bloodtribe Bullhorn Singers, who have been sharing the stage with Reuben and the Dark on recent performances. See the band’s upcoming dates below.

WATCH / SHARE “TIMELAPSE CLOUDS” FT. THE BULLHORN SINGERS HERE

MORE ABOUT REUBEN AND THE DARK
Reuben and the Dark is the enrapturing alt folk-rock outfit led by singer-songwriter Reuben Bullock, whose music blends introspective lyrics with soaring instrumentals. Reuben and the Dark's music has been featured in Breaking Bad, Dolittle, The Class, Grey's Anatomy, and many more. The talented Calgary-born Joshua Tree-based singer-songwriter, skateboarder, carpenter, and preacher's son has released three full lengths on Arts & Crafts, and toured with Boy & Bear and Vance Joy. 

WATCH AND SHARE “YES” LYRIC VIDEO HERE

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IN LIEU OF LIGHT - TRACK LISTING
1. One Two Three
2. Wanderer
3. Yes
4. Timelapse Clouds
5. Traveler of Swords 
6. Read Your Mind
7. All My Friends
8. Trouble
9. Skin and Bone
10. Coming Like a Storm
11. Little Sunrise

TOUR DATES
Sep 10 - Jasper, AB - Jasper Folk Festival % 

% with the Bullhorn Singers

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