Humanist is better known to his GP and dentist as Rob Marshall, a one man guitar-led musical journey that released a self-titled debut album in 2020 and is about to follow up with a second, On The Edge Of A Lost And Lonely World, on 26th July.
What's immediately apparent from the track listing of both albums is that Rob's contacts list is crammed with singer/songwriters. Rob co-wrote frequently with Mark Lanegan, so it's perhaps little surprise that he appeared on three songs on the first album.
Sadly, Mark's passing in 2022 has meant that it was his first and last collaboration with Humanist, but another singer who has made the transition from the first to second album is Dave Gahan.
Brother has just been released as a single with a moody video to boot. Ironically, given that Richard Butler co-wrote several songs with Martin Gore sung by Dave on Depeche Mode's most recent album, Memento Mori, my immediate impression of Brother is that it sounds like The Psychedelic Furs! Art imitating life imitating art...
I've just heard and seen the video for the previous single, Too Many Rivals, which came out in April. This one features Tim Smith who, apart from the occasional guest vocal elsewhere, I've mostly lost track of since he parted ways with Midlake over a decade ago. That melancholy vocal soaring over the shimmering guitar sounds really hits the spot.
I'm going to check out both albums on the back of this, not least because I'm intrigued by the previous and forthcoming songs featuring Carl Hancock Rux (who also appears on both albums), Ed Harcourt, Ilse Maria (aka Kate Smith), Isobel Campbell, James Allen (Glasvegas), James Cox (Crows), Jim Jones, Joel Cadbury (South/UNKLE), Mark Gardener (Ride), Peter Hayes (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club), Rachel Fannan and Ron Sexsmith.
Oh, and the legend that is John Robb...
On The Edge Of A Lost And Lonely World is available on digital and physical formats via Bandcamp and all the usual outlets, hopefully including your friendly local record shop.
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