Videos

Rob Marr: Summer In The City

• 3rd Sep 2012

Rob Marr releases his 2nd album Anatomy on October 15th as well as the single Summer in the City on September 21st.

Anatomy is the result of a two-year collaboration between Rob’s distinctively English piano-led songwriting and Andy Newmark’s unmistakable vintage New York grooves, with additional vocal sparkle provided by folksters the Smoke Fairies. Sessions took place in clearings in the clutter of Andy’s Kent apple barn conversion and in producer Robbie Moore’s loft. It was the first time Andy had recorded outside of a studio environment and the pair relished the days spent figuring out arrangements among the comforts of home.

The collaboration started while rehearsing for a 6 Music Festival in 2009 when Rob was introduced to the ex- Sly and the Family Stone drummer Andy Newmark. On first listen Andy admitted Rob’s music was ‘not his cup of tea’ before discovering, to both of their delights, that it was an acquired taste. So much so that a couple of months after the gig Andy suggested they work together on Rob’s second album.

Using more than 20 keyboards and giving centre stage to Rob’s lyrics, producer Robbie Moore has helped craft a unique and coherent sound from a diverse range of influences encompassing classical piano, hip hop, blues and soul, hymns, Britpop and the writers Raymond Carver and Annie Proulx. More mature, and with a broader emotional range than his first effort, the album showcases an eccentric take on day- to-day life in the world’s most exciting city.

His debut album Domestic Dramas was recorded in just three weeks in the winter of 2006/7 in an abandoned radio station in the southeast of the capital. A true DIY affair on a tiny budget, Rob taught himself the drums and played and recorded all the instruments. The album is a lyrical feast, featuring piano-led, kitchen sink narratives underpinned by hard-hitting, simple grooves. Headline gigs at The Roundhouse and Ronnie Scotts followed, supported by The Noisettes’ Jamie Morrison on drums and Gorillaz bass player Al Mobbs. In 2008 the cream of the album was released as an EP by Ambiguous Records, gaining support from BBC 6 Music’s Tom Robinson and a small but perfectly formed fan base.

The first single, Fencebuilding, was released on the AIM Award nominated Ambiguous Records in December 2011, gaining radio support from BBC 6 Music’s Cerys Matthews and Tom Robinson. Since the beginning of 2012 Rob has been performing solo at venues in and around London as well as embarking on a Gigs in People’s Homes tour staging intimate, warmly-received concerts to his fan base in the UK , Belgium , Spain and Italy . He plays an album launch at The Roundhouse in London on Oct 17th and aims is to play every county in England and every country in Europe before the UK devolves and the Euro collapses.