Water reservoirs are deep, cold and dangerous, warn signs along the large Talybont-on-Usk reservoir in Wales. Stay safe, stay out. But the peculiar splendor of the deep, dark and still water between the snow-capped mountain peaks strongly attracted indie singer Robin Kester on a cold winter day. What would it be like to swim there, there in the depths, in that unpredictable current. Yes, the darkness called; creepy thoughts of course for a moment. But it turned out to be a silent revolution in the process of making her album, recorded in Bristol: how she could capture her own darkness in songs.
On the stage of Rotown in hometown Rotterdam, Robin Kester makes no bones about it: she is out of her isolation. And she surprisingly cheerfully shares her vulnerabilities for her home audience as if she had always done it that way. After a handful of British shows, her beautiful new album will be released Dark Sky Reserve now on Dutch stages and she feels strong. It is a tour without medication, even, so no beta blockers or wine for anesthesia, she proudly reports. Now that she has received confirmation again and again that she can let go of her insecurities – after all, delivering a strong second album remains an impressive achievement – she can not only allow her vulnerability, but also increasingly consciously embrace it and use it as a creative force.
It is not without reason that the song ‘Happy Sad (It’s a Party)’ is her opening, about the inner struggle to stay on course. Living with a shadow, she sings with clear diction, is anything but fair. Solid and compelling, with her four accompanists on guitar, bass, keys, drums plus her own guitar, it is not difficult to see what the once shy Kester, now much more assertive and with an indie tie as a new trademark, is opting for.
Pointy pop bass
Melodically strong songs like ‘Departure’ and ‘The Daylight’ set the tone. It is not without reason that they were released as the first singles this year. At rock venue Rotown they unfortunately sound less subtle, layered and defined than on the album, especially the polyphony is missed at first, but despite the somewhat plump hall sound: they come across. Details such as the pointed pop bass and the melancholic synths remain undercurrent, while Kester plucks stars from the sky with waving arms.
Indie singer Robin Kester in Rotown, Rotterdam.
Photo Danique van Kesteren
The dark images she evokes, of nature, dark night, emptiness or other personifications of fear, make her elusive emotions concrete. Kester and her band give them a push, with increasingly drawn-out grooves and exciting synthesizers. Almost her entire record is heard. But the new song ‘Project Moon’ also has potential. And everything is squeezed out in one of the early songs ‘Sweat and Fright’, in which Kester freaks out with synth effects and the band increases the tension even more.
She delivers a truly beautiful folky highlight solo, strumming her guitar. In ‘Tree-lined Lanes’ her voice rises with high long notes that capture tranquility. Beautiful how her voice has opened up over the years with more power and nuance. Robin Kester pushes herself towards light under her own power.
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