New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The upcoming album from award-winning multi-instrumentalist
Robin Jackson, Dark Stars, combines lyrical clarity and architecture of melody in a way that feels like a rainy afternoon in Portland. It's a stretched canvas waiting for a splash of life. The album, due out November 3, was partially recorded at Portland's legendary Type Foundry Studio (The Decemberists, REM, Modest Mouse). The first single, "Drifting at Sea" is available as an approved downloadable mp3.
Jackson pulls from a wide catalogue of musical palettes including saxophone, acoustic guitar, piano, organ, violin, cello, rich harmonies, and punctually-placed whistles. Even with this vaudevillian cocktail bubbling at the helm, the album's underlyings meaning refers to the process of alchemizing something painfully hard and sad into something beautifully new and inspiring. Jackson explains, "The theme of much of my music is about the process of how art and music can be redemptive in nature."
"Drifting at Sea" is a whimsical lament on being left behind in love. It expresses a dichotomy of wanting space while still craving love's connection. The melody floats through a melancholy thought-cloud of aching strings and wandering piano lines, with a well-placed harmony garnishing each chorus. It feels like a conversation that's melted into a one-sided daydream of hindsight's tempered embrace. The gentle sway is dusky and dark with every emotion shining like a lighthouse guiding the melody home.
Dark Stars Track Listing
Lady Wisconsin
Drifting at Sea
Back to Your Door
Yellow Gardenias
Gospel and Grain
Bridge of Saint Johns
Tears for the Soul
Saint Valentine
Ghost Under My Skin
Dark Stars
About
Robin Jackson
Robin Jackson is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Portland, OR. He began learning several instruments at the age of five. From 2002-2014, Jackson was a key member and composer of the dark boho-cabaret band,
Vagabond Opera; and also composed and toured with Marchfourth Marching Band. The first incarnation of his current band was in 2012 after releasing Dust Diaries. Jackson has performed at an extensive list of venues in the United States and all over Europe. He has also performed and recorded with notables acts such as Gregory Alan Isakov, Emancipator, Devotchka, and
Amanda Palmer. His upcoming album, Dark Stars, was recorded in the legendary Type Foundry Studio and is due out November 3.
Tour Dates
11.11 The Secret Society, Portland, OR
Praise for
Robin Jackson
"A multi-instrumentalist behind several collaborations (from Gogol Bordello to the Decemberists),
Robin Jackson is one of the hidden gems of the inexhaustible mine of Portland indie-folk. —Raffaello Russo, Rockerilla, Italy
"Fans of
Robin Jackson's flashy bands
Vagabond Opera and March Fourth Marching Band might be surprised at the straightforward intimacy of his folky debut solo album, Dust Diaries—but it's definitely a pleasant surprise. His distinctive vocal style, somewhere between Phil Ochs and
Rufus Wainwright, manages to be both warm and breezy. Hooky, evocative tracks like "Paper Bird" and "October Rain" reveal a solid singer songwriter with broad appeal." —Brett Campbell, Portland WWeek
"The term singer-songwriter is rather simplistic when the artist at hand has mastered six instruments and can play many others. But that is the best way to describe
Robin Jackson's work on his first solo album, even if iTunes calls it "pop." —Serena Markstrom, Register Guard
"Dust Diaries is a lovely piece of work, graced with Jackson's characteristic lyric clarity and architecture of melody. Shifted to the background are the extravagant klezmer and music hall tropes familiar to fans of his
Vagabond Opera songs, leaving space for the listener beside spare and sad arrangements produced in collaboration with Chet Lyster of EELS....A renowned creator with a highly distinctive and involved mode of expression lays down his masks and shares with his fans a genuine sigh of release." —Noah Mickens, OMN
