The Rubens Release Sixth Album "Group Therapy" After Returning to Rock
The Australian band The Rubens released their sixth album, Group Therapy, on 16 October. Frontman Sam Margin spoke about the record in an interview with Billboard, published on 23 October.
The album's title draws on a hard period in Margin's life. He had an alcohol-related breakdown and then made a comeback, and the record's name reflects that journey. Margin sings and plays guitar in the band.
The album also marks a change in sound. Billboard describes Group Therapy as a return to rock after the band's 2024 album SODA, which leaned on synthesisers, the electronic keyboards that gave that record its glossy, synth-heavy feel. The album was produced by Konstantin Kersting. It was recorded in a converted World War II communications bunker that the band calls The Bunker.
The Rubens are made up of brothers Zaac, Sam and Elliott Margin, along with Scott Baldwin and William Zeglis. The group formed in 2011 in Menangle, a town about 50 miles southwest of Sydney.
The band has a track record in its home country. In January 2016, The Rubens won triple j's Hottest 100, the annual countdown voted on by listeners of the Australian youth radio station, with the song "Hoops." Before Group Therapy, the band had five consecutive albums reach the top five of the ARIA charts, the official Australian album rankings. Their 2021 album 0202 went to No. 1.
Group Therapy is also a change in how the band reaches listeners. The Rubens released the album independently. That follows a long working partnership with Mushroom Group and Ivy League, two companies the band had worked with for years.
At the time of the Billboard interview, the band was touring Australia in support of the album. Fans who want to see the new songs live can check the band's own channels for dates and venues.
For listeners who know the band from "Hoops," the new record offers a different side of the group. For everyone else, it is a story about a band that changed course, and a frontman who has put a difficult chapter into the name of his work.
