Robert Sotelo - Cusp
Regular price $40.00/
Tax included.
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Robert Sotelo is the nom de plume of Andrew Doig, a 36 year old serial musician originally from Peterborough. Andrew’s middle name is Robert, whilst Sotelo is his mother’s maiden name. Using this alter ego he’s been able to write and record the twelve songs that make up his debut solo record Cusp (released though Upset The Rhythm). Sotelo plays every instrument on the album and recorded and edited it with long term friend John Hannon throughout 2016 at No Studios in Rayleigh, Essex. Sotelo’s verdant world of sound is at once intimate, choosing to build songs up from ambitious layers of instrumentation into miniature psych pop overtures of genuine sincerity of feeling. Very much grounded in that particular forward-facing strain of mid-60s rock that edged towards Sgt Pepper, Sotelo’s music owes as much to Davies and McCartney’s unashamed belief in melody as it does to the uncertainty and confusion that comes with mid-thirties existentialism. Cusp is an album that explores the individual in a post-social life era, with Sotelo starting the project initially as an attempt to re-engage with the people he used to know, without relying on nostalgia as a common bond. From this worthy spark of a plan, he’s created something grand and compelling, a vast tapestry of songs that stand up and sound afresh. Bring Back The Love is a dream-swept ballad of expansive vocal refrains and pools of spidery guitar contemplation. Marinade is a song about having no money wrapped up in a hypnotic cycle of chiming bittersweet guitars and gentle keyboard blushes. “Cut the bread, prepare the jam, spread the table, make it grand, your only ever task at hand, to take from this fair land” sings Sotelo with delicate precision. Bronte Paths is another homespun wonder-pop moment, its insistent rhythm and vocal line embedding into your very core, sounding more like a rediscovered gem than a contemporary song.