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, The Highwaymen, Game of Thrones, Handmaids Tale, and many more. The talented Calgary-born Joshua Tree-based singer-songwriter, skateboarder and carpenter has released four full lengths on Arts & Crafts and toured the world.

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. Now, the spirited folk- rock outfit announces its fourth album, 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.

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.