The Rubens are revving up for their new album and tour

Aussie alt-rockers The Rubens have recently announced the launch of their new album Group Therapy, released three new singles, and are also revving up for a special show at the Singapore Grand Prix. If that was not enough, the group are now gearing up for a major end-of-year tour, including a huge show at Freo.Social on Thursday, December 3, before racing down to Margaret River to play The River on Friday, December 4. Ahead of the tour, NEVE PEARCE caught up with brothers Sam and Elliot Margin from the band to talk about their latest tunes, evolving sound, affordable shows, and the most exciting thing about the Grand Prix: the broom-brooms.

You’ve just announced Group Therapy alongside the release of a new single. What does this wave of announcements and fresh music feel like for the band? 

Sam: A little bit of relief that we’re finally putting it out, which happens every time. We work really, really, really hard, and fans know something is coming… but for us, it’s finally nice to go, ‘We are coming. We are going to be on the road.’ We love the recording process, but it really comes back to having an excuse to get on the road again, play shows and meet people.

Your latest track, Love Me America, has been described as ‘reflecting on the thrill, confusion and baggage that comes with chasing something bigger than yourself.’ Can you tell us more about what that something bigger might be?

Sam: The time and place that I’m referencing there is the chaos of being on the verge of reaching your dreams. We’d always wanted to do this for a living, and going to America as a band, to this big, shiny city on the hill, was just this whirlwind of fun and chaos.

I guess the song is a love song to that moment in time when everything is new and exciting. The beers would look different when you went into the 7-Eleven; you could get street tacos! From these little things to the big things, like going out for fricking steak dinners with executives from music labels or saying, ‘Oh, there’s a New York cab; how cool is that?’ It was just all fresh and new and exciting.

Your last album SODA was rich in synth and took a slightly more electronic turn than your previous albums. What can fans expect as far as sounds and surprises with Group Therapy? 

Elliot: A lot more guitar than the last record. A lot of the songs were written, structured and finished just sitting with a guitar before actually recording anything.

I think it was a way to simplify the writing process. As a keyboardist, when I sit down at the keys, six albums in, I know all the moves, and I’m not surprising myself anymore. So, to pick up a guitar instead, which I’m really not good at all, and just hack out the simple ideas I have in my head while being restricted by my skill on the guitar was very exciting.

That meant that when it came time to record the actual album, a lot of these songs were based around guitar, and we decided, ‘Okay, let’s use that as an anchor point for the rest of the record. Let’s not throw everything at this and layer it like crazy. Let’s make sure that every part is considered and has its place, not just there for the sake of it.’

We just crafted the record a little more, which was fun.

We also made the decision with the drums that we were just going to go in and make sure they sounded the way we wanted them to at the end of the record. There’s no going in and sound-replacing anything. We’re going to spend time and tune the snare to the key of the song, and we’re going to use the room and the mics in the room in a certain way.

That really meant that, paired with a lot of the guitars on the record, the drums as well gave the whole album a really nice, cohesive sound. And we’ve been speaking about it a lot recently, but it links itself a little bit closer to the first records for us. So it’s come full circle.

And we’re not disowning SODA. That’s for sure.

Sam: The synthesiser elements are all still there. They’re just playing a supporting role.

This is your sixth album over 15 years—after so many years of making music together, has the way you approach songwriting and recording changed as a band?

Sam: I think it’s evolved. As songwriters and as producers, which we’ve morphed into, or at least co-producers, over the last few records, things have changed for sure because we’ve learned what we needed to learn and feel like we’re confident enough to go into the studio and run the show [even though] we had Kon Kersting come in and co-produce with us on this record.

I think in terms of writing, everyone’s just become more solidified in understanding their roles within the band as well. When Elliot and I write the songs, there’s no preciousness between us about who gets the most songs on the record; it’s just what the best song wins.

And when the rest of the boys come in, they’ve got free rein to make their part their own. And once you add all those things together, it becomes a Rubens song.

So, I think everyone’s found their place, is happy, and knows that they’re contributing in different ways. I think we’ve become a little bit more like a well-oiled machine.

You are playing the Grand Prix in Singapore next month, which puts you in the middle of this huge intersection of music, sport and an international audience. What excites you most about being part of that? 

Elliot: The broom-brooms! We were lucky to play the F1 in Melbourne a couple of years back, which was incredible: to be at an event of that size and get to play… as fans of the F1.

But any chance to get in front of new fans is amazing for us as a band. Especially with festivals dropping off at the moment like flies, it’s nice to be given the opportunity to play somewhere new and be put in front of people who might not have heard our music before and give them a shot of The Rubens and winning them over.

Sam: I think we’ve got a good chance of winning them over because they’re already excited. All we’re doing is adding to the experience they get from being at the F1. If we play a show there as well and they get to see some live music, we’re just part of their awesome day. They’re already in a good mood.

Getting in front of new audiences is… almost more exciting for me. And because we’re passionate about F1—me and Scotty in particular love the F1—wherever we can put those two things together, fans are going to love that. And it’s going to be genuine from us. We just get to go to the F1 in Singapore. It’s not more complicated than that.

You’ve adjusted ticket prices to make the tour more affordable in response to the cost-of-living crisis. How important was it for the band to make these shows accessible to as many fans as possible and why? 

Sam: It’s a matter of fairness. If fans like your music and pay for a Spotify subscription every month so they can listen to you but can’t afford to come to your show because they’re priced out, that’s just not fair.

The age range of our fans is quite broad; maybe there are quite a few that are our age who have stable jobs and can afford to come, but for students, that’s going to be tricky. Asking them to pay 150 bucks for a ticket… I guess we just want to make sure everyone has access to live music.

Right now, like Elliot was saying before, festivals have been dropping off. So I think everyone may need to take a bit of a pay cut in the live scene to make sure that people understand the value of live music and the opportunity to experience it.

Then the next generation gets to see what live music is all about, and then hopefully, your Splendours in the Grasses and whatever else pops up will happen because there’s going to be the hunger for live music.

There are multiple reasons, but I think it’s only fair.

Fans are very keen to see you hit the road and hear the new album. What are you doing to prepare yourselves for the tour, and what can we be excited for after the tour is over? 

Elliot: We won’t get into the nitty-gritty, but we’re in production rehearsals as we speak! We’re trying to get new songs down and sounding beautiful before we hit the road with them.

There’s a bit of discussion as to what songs we’re going to pick from the record because we can’t play all of them—that would be psychopathic to our audience—because not everyone’s going to want to hear the whole record.

So we’ve got to figure out how to craft the set and make it a night of peaks and troughs. And six albums in, we really can craft it, which is a luxury at this point and is very, very cool for us.

Fans can expect… fans can expect a big show. We are really putting money into production and lights and making sure that if you’re coming out and spending money, parking the car or whatever, getting a babysitter or something, it’s actually worth your time. We’re giving you a night that you can enjoy.

Sam: After this, I’m assuming—I’m not assuming… I know—that we’re just going to add more and more dates to this tour. The tour will not end. We’ll announce a bunch more shows and we’ll continue going to all the places that people have been saying, ‘Hey, come here. Why have you missed here?’ That’s what we do: we make an album, and then we go and show it for two years!

The Rubens bring their Group Therapy Tour to Freo.Social on Thursday, December 3, and The River on Friday, December 4, 2026. Group Therapy is out on Friday, October 16. Tickets are on sale now from therubensmusic.com