After the singles ‘The Beginning (My God)’ and ‘Too Many Rivals’, HUMANIST is releasing the anthemic new single ‘Brother’ from their upcoming album ‘On The Edge Of A Lost And Lonely World’, which will be out on July 26 via Bella Union. The track features the captivating vocals of Dave Gahan from DEPECHE MODE and is a tribute to the late, great Mark Lanegan, with whom Rob Marshall of HUMANIST collaborated on the albums ‘Gargoyle’ and ‘Somebody’s Knocking’. The track is accompanied by a black and white video.Rob Marshall says about the song: “One week after Lanegan’s death, Ed Harcourt contacted me about one of the musical ideas I had shared with him. He remembered Mark’s habit of affectionately calling his closest allies ‘Brother’. That’s how he always referred to me as well. This endearing term hinted at a camaraderie akin to a closely connected family. The song became ‘Brother’. When I listened to it for the first time and immersed myself in the music, emotions overwhelmed me, and memories flooded my mind. At first, I was overwhelmed, then the sheer power of it moved me to tears. Dave Gahan, another longtime friend of Mark, seemed like the perfect choice for vocals, and after hearing the piece, he fully agreed. The piece came even more alive as more of Mark’s former collaborators joined in: Isobel Campbell’s haunting cello, Sietse van Gorkom’s stirring strings - all interwoven in a cathartic symphony of remembrance and tribute. It’s a humble tribute to a colossal soul, but it feels undeniably fitting.”
In addition to Dave Gahan, ‘On The Edge Of A Lost And Lonely World’ features guest appearances from artists such as Tim Smith (MIDLAKE / HARP), Isobel Campbell, Ed Harcourt, James Allan (GLASVEGAS), Peter Hayes (BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB), Carl Hancock Rux, and others.
‘On the Edge of a Lost and Lonely World’, the second album from Rob Marshall’s HUMANIST project, features the vocals of a number of well-known artists. This select lineup expands the HUMANIST sonic universe, building upon the terrain explored on the critically acclaimed debut album in 2020, and further solidifying Rob Marshall (guitarist of EXIT CALM and co-writer on Mark Lanegan’s celebrated albums ‘Gargoyle’ and ‘Somebody’s Knocking’) as a songwriter, composer, and producer with a unique musical vision.
The album serves as a reminder of how emotionally charged guitar-driven music can be at its best: soaring, tumultuous, contemplative, and above all sincere; one can hear that Rob has been through it all, that he has become wiser, more experienced, and more resilient. It is evident that Rob is serious about it. Much is at stake on this second HUMANIST album: the soul of a man laid bare without reservation.
While ‘On the Edge of a Lost and Lonely World’ once again incorporates the Gothic / Industrial elements of the debut album, the sound palette has expanded to incorporate more light and shade - with ethereal guitars fused with driving, motoric Rock’n’Roll, contrasted with the sweetness and lightness of Isobel Campbell’s exquisite ‘Love You More’, which harks back to MY BLOODY VALENTINE. On this second HUMANIST album, Rob proves himself a master of subtle textures, delicately intricate guitar lines that are electronically manipulated to the point where one can no longer be sure if they are indeed guitars.
The first HUMANIST album was a whirlwind of Fuzz and Noise melodies, cinematic, hypnotic, a grand, triumphant album with vocal contributions from Mark Lanegan, Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode), Mark Gardener (Ride), Joel Cadbury (UNKLE), and many others. It was Rob’s first solo project after the dissolution of his band EXIT CALM and also the first album he fully produced himself. But just as his masterpiece was completed, Covid stopped everything, a promotional tour was canceled, and the world plunged into a long state of suspension… Shortly after, Rob’s most important companion, Mark Lanegan, passed away, with whom he shared a deep and enduring musical friendship. Rob wrote and produced six tracks for Mark on their first collaborative effort, the critically acclaimed album ‘Gargoyle’ (2017 Heavenly Records). On Mark’s next album ‘Somebody's Knocking’ (Heavenly Records, October 2019), Rob wrote six more tracks. The first tracks they worked on together were included on the first HUMANIST album.
The new album explores and develops themes that he had already contemplated on his debut - existential questions of life, death, meaning, hope, suffering, redemption - but now with a deeper palette of sounds and emotions, more nuances, a growing mastery of form that produces an album of emotional subtlety, depth, and scope. Rob’s vocals, as Madman Butterfly, can be found in the increasing abstraction of the second half of the album, with conventional song structures dissolving into tonal density. Rob’s voice sings melodies from a dream that circulates in his head on the final track ‘The End’. You wake up from a dream that is so meaningful and strange that it cannot be transferred to the waking world and collapses upon contact with reality, slipping through your fingers like sand…
“My head is sunk in clouds of thoughts and imagination,” reflects Rob, “but I am driven to be as musically real and authentic as possible, I try to push forward and use everything I have; it was never really a choice, but the only thing I ever considered possible - to go with the flow, accept your fate, ride the waves. I am a shy person, but on stage, my guitar leads me to a place of innate self-confidence, so that's probably where I feel most comfortable.”
HUMANIST - ‘On The Edge Of A Lost And Lonely World’ will be released on 26 July 2024 via Bella Union.
Tracklist
01. The Beginning (My God) feat. Carl Hancock Rux
02. Happy feat. Ed Harcourt
03. Too Many Rivals feat. Tim Smith
04. The Immortal feat. Ed Harcourt
05. This Holding Pattern feat. James Cox
06. Brother feat. Dave Gahan
07. Born To Be feat. Peter Hayes
08. Keep Me Safe feat. Rachel Fannan
09. Dark Side Of Your Window feat. James Allan
10. Love You More feat. Isobel Campbell
11. Lonely Night feat. Madman Butterfly
12. The Presence Of Haman feat. Madman Butterfly
13. The End feat. Madman Butterfly
Source: Press Release
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