Sunshine Coast indie pop artist Toby Robinson (TOBiAS) has relaunched his new album Behind the Valley after Covid-19 dampened the soft launch last year.
“Now we are clear of outbreaks and lockdowns, which deeply disrupted the music industry, we are relaunching the album which will be available on vinyl in a few weeks,” Toby said.
Behind the Valley is Toby’s third album. It reflects his musical approach which values musicianship, soulful song writing and a textured, sometimes nostalgic sound.
It took two years of the pandemic to write and produce. Taking his time, Toby has created a finely crafted album with a warm, organic sound.
“These are not some punched out pop songs. I laboured over them and took a lot of care,” Toby said.
“I had talented support and production from Andy Tainsh who has worked with many famous and accomplished musicians. Elliot Heinrich of Pony Recordings in London mixed the album. Elliot works with Michael Kiwanuka and Metronom. Grammy award winning William Bowden (Gotye, Tash Parker, Grant McLennan) mastered the album.
“The production process was key to how the album was crafted. Andy created a beautiful night time vibe, recording well into the evening with lights down and incense burning (see On the Shore film clip).
“It was an old school production process. All the instruments are played by musicians, the harmonies were written by musicians and there were no drum machines and nothing really programmed. We had an old school three mic drum overhead technique setup and lots of toms for the lush, organic sound. My influences are in the ’80s style synth lines, melodic guitars, Fender Rhodes sounding keys and solid simple grooves.”
Toby said each song on Behind the Valley was touched with deep personal emotion.
“The recording process brought up a lot. I felt the absence of my late mum (who died of breast cancer when Toby was 14) in the recording studio. I tapped into well of emotion and there were tears.”
Stand out songs include alternative ballad On the shore with Emma Beau on vocal, the lush, hooky Howling at the Moon and the relatable, soothing Crazy Time referring to climate change and global instability.
TOBiAS will be playing on 27 May from 7pm for Barry Charles birthday party at Majestic Theatre Pomona.
You can also catch him on 29 July from 4 – 5pm at Noosa Alive Festival in Noosa Woods.
For tickets, visit themajestictheatre.com.au or noosaalive.com.au
