Ruben Hein

Born in the Netherlands in 1982, Ruben Hein has developed a career straddling pop, jazz and soul, with songwriting centered on piano and vocals. He attracted wider attention in the early 2010s with the album Loose Fit (2010), which established a format of melodic songs nourished by jazz harmonies and a subtle soul approach. His trajectory then widened across Dutch and European stages through collaborations with musicians such as Benjamin Herman, Pete Philly & Perquisite, Jonathan Jeremiah and the Metropole Orkest. In his subsequent discography, Hein moved his language toward a more open pop without abandoning his acoustic foundations, as illustrated by Hopscotch (2012), Groundwork Rising (2018) and OCEANS (2022), a project inspired by natural landscapes. In 2024, P.S., recorded with the Matangi Quartet, places greater emphasis on the dialogue between his voice, his piano and chamber-music textures. From one record to the next, Ruben Hein retains fluid songwriting, a taste for understated arrangements and a constant crossover between song, soul and jazz.