MINKA – ‘End of the Affair’ EP out Feb. 14, 2019

Phildaelphia’s MINKA will release their new EP, End of the Affair, on February 14, 2019.

MINKA was formed by lead vocalist, songwriter and keyboardist Ari “Dick” Rubin – equal parts madcap Hassidic rabbi and whirling dervish holy fool. On End of the Affair, Rubin has forsaken the band collaborations of years past for an approach distinctly his own, turning to his love of ‘80s R&B/soul, a genre an ex-bandmate dubbed, “nostalgiacore,” though the term doesn’t quite capture the new songs’ emotional directness and thoroughly modern thump.

The new EP sees Rubin pulling off everything from a teasing falsetto “unashamedly” inspired by his idols Prince and D’Angelo, to pure blue-eyed Philly soul that harks back to the likes of Hall & Oates and Todd Rundgren through the filter of Gamble & Huff and The Stylistics, with the sensuous, spoken word come-on of Isaac Hayes or Barry White. Rubin has studiously avoided writing love songs up until now, but End of the Affair found him reeling after the demise of a year-long relationship.

The Valentine’s Day release of the intensely felt, post-breakup EP marks the first of three individual MINKA projects planned for 2019, including an EP of upbeat party tunes, and an experimental EP in which the classically trained pianist will interpret several of his favorite orchestral vocal pieces by the likes of Schubert, Schumann, Faure and Strauss and update them in his own words, with a modern pop production.

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