We have a Song premiere today from Rathbone, a name that has been winning fans from Zane Lowe who announced him as his “Next Hype Artist” to The Guardian. Devendra Banhart also confessed to being a fan declaring “I love this young dude… After hearing’ his album, I proposed to him and asked him to play a show with us in Philly.”
‘Little Moment‘ is the gentlest offering on his latest album ‘Soft‘, a song in which Rathbone name checks Townes Van Zandt’s Tecumseh Valley, a troubadour with whom he seems to share a similar restless spirit…however, unlike Townes he seemed to find his path a lot earlier. He learned how to play guitar at age 12, when a stranger who was passing through the small town in northern Maine left the instrument at his house. He later went on to record his first album, After Dark, when he was just 16 years old, sneaking into the recording studio of his local college late at night and teaching himself how to use the equipment.
“Complex but melodic, sugary but acerbic, high-energy but suffused with ennui.” – The Guardian
Talking of the album Rathbone says “It’s a record that charts the course of a relationship.” He goes on to explain “I felt like love had imploded. There was no place for me to be anymore. That’s a strange thing to feel when you’re twenty three. Like everything had gotten out of control. I ran out of money. I ran out of time.”
However, ultimately, “The feeling of the record is incredible energy,” says Rathborne. “Youthfulness, lust – the feeling of breaking out of yourself, unchaining yourself, forcing yourself to be free.”
Rathborne relocated to New York when he was 18, where he connected with famed Tin Pan Alley producer Joey Levine. From there, Rathborne began steadily honing his skills, booking himself a weeklong UK tour, netting a slot opening for The Strokes at SXSW and recording the EP I Can Be One/Dog Years, which earned him an appearance on BBC 6 Music.
Soft is out now via True Believer