Philadelphia-based MiNKA – comprised of Ari “Dick” Rubin and friends – releases their brand new 7-track collection titled Reincarnation today. “Dark” starts us all off with a slow, entrancing soundscape, leading into the quirky and far more vibrant “Rain”. Third track “Gone” has a feeling of desperation dripping from its instrumentals, a slightly more theatrical soundscape than its predecessor, while “Dawn” brings guitar chords that will truly invigorate you.

Once you put into perspective that Reincarnation is MiNKA’s updated interpretation of notable 19th century vocal pieces by Schubert, Schumann, and Strauss, things start to make that much more sense. As the third and final chapter in a string of 2019 releases, it feels like a notable and beautiful way to round everything out. The simplicity of the song titles – each track is a single word, the majority existing at four letters and one syllable – is refreshing, and helps to bring the listener back to the songs’ original intent. With the final additions of “Hope”, “Hours”, and “Sirens”, MiNKA has provided us a well thought out, entrancing performance that we won’t soon forget.

Keep up with MiNKA here.

Meredith Schneider