The Rubens have shared new single Are You Getting High, a reflective look at the uneasy space between heartbreak and acceptance.
Following recent release Goanna, the Menangle five-piece dial things back emotionally, focusing on the lingering feelings that remain after a relationship has run its course. Built around soulful vocals, understated grooves and a slow-burning sense of regret, the track explores the difficult reality of watching somebody move on while still processing your own part in the collapse.
“There’s moved on and found someone new and you’re happy for them. Kind of. Not really. But maybe soon and that’s ok,” explains Elliott Margin, neatly capturing the emotional contradiction at the heart of the song.
The accompanying video, filmed at the Camden Show, places frontman Sam Margin among the crowds while lost in his own thoughts. It’s a simple but effective visual, contrasting the noise and activity around him with the private grief unfolding beneath the surface.
The song arrives as another chapter in a career that has quietly made The Rubens one of Australia’s most consistent success stories. Since emerging via triple j Unearthed with ‘Lay It Down’, the band have delivered multiple platinum records, an ARIA chart-topping album and one of the defining Australian singles of the past decade with Hoops. Yet Are You Getting High succeeds precisely because it avoids grand statements, focusing instead on a feeling most listeners will recognise immediately.
