If you were to combine the sultry vocal stylings of Nancy Sinatra with the baroque-pop musings of The Last Shadow Puppets, then you’d definitely end up with the quirky sound of The Death Of Robert. Born in Barcelona in 2018, their first album, Casablanca, is a mixture of pop with a dark undertone. The raw lyric writing takes premise over the music with this record, giving us plenty to keep us occupied with.
The Hater Poem has a pop-orientated sound with an upbeat rhythm. Although it comes across initially as a track that is incredibly easy to listen to, its drumbeat combined with the violins creates an intense atmosphere that something underlying is slowly building. The lyrics of this song are a little darker than anything else on Casablanca in which you can almost feel the burning sense of betrayal and anger in Lara Giardina’s vocals.
At times on Casablanca, The Death Of Robert throw in some quirky, catchy numbers that wouldn’t go amiss in a smoky café bar. Mango really embraces that atmosphere with a memorable bass line carrying the song, meshed together nicely with a cool and detached vocal range; its catchiness gives a certain amount of nostalgia from a bygone era.
Although The Death Of Robert really do shine when they pump out the pop, at times, the music can be tender, with Duty combining elements of blues and jazz. It’s a subtle and soulful change from the other features on the record.
Released on May 15th, Casablanca is a well-rounded album that could have easily been overproduced, but thankfully, The Death Of Robert seem to understand that replayability is all about keeping it simple.
