"Restless" - Album

Rubin Henkel announces his new album ’Restless’ on 7K! Records along with his brand new single ‘Ruhelos’ [link] !

During the pandemic, Rubin spent most of his time with his father the photographer Philip Pocock, and delved into his archive of street photography taken in Berlin, before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Through the imagery he found a sense of escapism contained in the scenes and after hearing from his mother and father about the social milieu of the time he saw many parallels to our contemporary fragmented society. Browsing through countless photos Rubin felt a strong connection to the characters and scenes. After carefully selecting 12 photographs he entered into an artistic dialogue with the work of his father from over three decades ago, resulting in the making of ‘Restless’. 

Rubin’s new release ‘Restless’ cradles the listener with themes of contrast, survival and the fragility of our own existence, both socially and environmentally. The album breathes and vibrates, as though it is living, telling of a Berlin marked in different eras.  

The laconic titles evoke their own stories related not only to the photographs but to the listeners own experiences of the everyday characters, scenes and plot lines which Rubin traces across the album. In the stunning and gestural ‘Ruhelos’ we can hear an artist coming to terms with his own voice, after listening to his parents stories of the 80s Berlin punk scenes, “Inspired by their unconventional approach to music, I started composing a piano piece that was finally loud enough to be heard by my neighbors” Rubin explains. “Postman” in contrast is a softer, more introspective piece which embraces the listener with its intimate textures of the piano. While ‘’This is The Wall’’ moves us in a slower pace, showcasing the inherently human fragility, the unforeseen difficulties of survival and interior space in the mind which can be lit up by inspiration. Rubin Henkel has a story to tell in each piece of music he writes, with each vignette he weaves together another story in his fiction. 

All tracks were recorded in his home studio to give a sense of intimacy but also recreate the claustrophobic and restless feeling of being surrounded by walls. A result of those circumstances is an album that is louder and darker than his previous works but also features hopeful and calm passages that shine through the strong contrast. 

Rubin Henkel’s second album ’Restless’ will be released May 6th 2022 on contemporary classical label 7K!.  

https://rubinhenkel.bandcamp.com/album/restless