Album Review: Robohands ‘Green’

In case you have been living under a rock, Robohands is a UK jazz musician whose real name is Andy Baxter. His debut album Green which came out in mid-2018 is superb.

With almost zero effort to promote the album, Robohands has grown in underground popularity getting over a million views on his album and songs on YouTube and gaining gig requests left right and centre from all over the world.

Robohands fluctuates effortlessly between ambient, jazz and hip-hop. And Green is the ultimate smooth and easy-breezy jazz album that packs a soulful punch.

Green has a deep and bassy undertone that reminds me a bit of British big-beat and jungle musicians from the 90’s like Goldie and Grooverider. There are some real smooth and creamy cuts on this album that will make you want to swoon with their cosy vibe. It’s a four seasons album, reflective and serene and suitable for staring at landscapes or a blazing fireplace.

Here’s my favourite track from that album, Lament. It encapsulates so much of my mental landscape and brings me so much joy each time I listen to it.

This will become a classic of the current jazz genre in future years. It’s only matter of time.

Robohands is a great example of a musician who is just making his art and doing it superbly on a shoe-string budget. And now he is emerging and achieving success due to his raw talent. Andy plays drums, guitar, bass, piano and synths on the album. He is a true multi-instrumentalist. He reminds me a bit of Bonobo, another genre-bending hard to define musician.

“I was working several terrible part-time jobs and this project pretty much started as escapism from that in my spare time. Initially, I wanted to make some ambient backing tracks to play drums to, but then I started to really enjoy the process of writing the melodies and arranging the parts. I released an EP and carried on writing, ending up with an album’s worth of material. There was just about enough funds to go in the studio for two days to get it recorded, a lot of the drums and bass parts were written there on the spot and somehow in the end it all came together as a finished piece.”  – Andy Baxter, Native FM interview.

 

listen to the album 

Coming up, Andy will play in Brighton’s well-known Pattern’s Jazz Club at the behest of UK national treasure, Mr Bongo.

With all of the hypnotic jazz instrumentation, snappy drums and slow swinging chords, Green is a feel-good album that’s never corny or unsubtle. It’s also the kind of album that will age very well. Have a listen and this album, it could well be your emotional soundtrack for 2019.

Order Robohands ‘Green’ on vinyl, tape and CD from Village Live Records. You won’t regret it! 

 

Here is Andy below during the recording of that album…