[ Genres: Pop / Electronica / Dance / Reggae ]
Robin Ray is the guitarist/keyboardist for Seattle rock band Moon: he’s also a solo artist in his own right, releasing ebullient electronic tunes which sound like a quirky mash-up of Kanye West, Bruno Mars, and sequenced arcade-style music a la the Octopus Project. He also makes a case for being a pretty funny guy before you ever press play: upcoming solo debut ‘Quartermoon’ is a wink-and-nudge reference to his role as one fourth of his main band, Moon. His tracks are deceptively simple, the sort of looping ear worms that burrow deep into your subconscious and then dislodge days later, refusing to come un-stuck from your head.
Sounds Like: taio cruz, Chris Willis, Enrique Iglesias, Swedish House Mafia, Calvin Harris
… read the rest if this author’s review below …
“Love On The Dance Floor” by Robin Ray rated on a 5 Star Rating Scale
Author Rating: 4.5/5 Weighted Average: 3.9/5
Composition: 4/5 Arrangement: 4/5 Production: 3.5/5 Performance: 4.5/5 Hit Potential: 3.5/5
Founder (Music Producer & Publisher) Rating: 5/5 Overall
Composition: 5/5 Arrangement: 5/5 Performance: 5/5 Production: 5/5 Hit Potential: 5/5
This is especially the case for his song “Love on the Dance Floor.” The baseline is fun and rubbery; the synths are spaced out and sparkly; his vocals are emotive and strong. It’s music that solidly plants its flag in unabashed dedication to reviving now-kitsch 80’s sounds. Unlike some artists, though, Ray isn’t satisfied with a straightforward revival: he mixes things up, melding together influences from various popular subgenres and sprinkling in some fun sonic-bells-and-whistles. The chorus features the least annoying auto-tune you’ll hear this year, and there’s a growling electronic breakdown on the bridge that would almost feel menacing if everything wasn’t so heavily glossed with a sense of light-hearted fun. This extends to the lyrics—something about love, dance floors, setting free, burning desires, and so on. It’s dance music thru and thru and wears that badge proudly. It’s hard to imagine Ray doing anything but smiling constantly during the recording of the songs. It’s an artist letting himself let go, stop taking himself so seriously, and see what comes out of it.
It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly makes Ray such an enjoyable artist. There are other artists who do individual aspects of his music in more creative, sophisticated ways, but there’s such a boyish enthusiasm behind the music that Ray ends up with music that’s much more likable and human. He even tosses out a goofy ‘yeah boi’ during the lead-in that manages to be endearing, not annoying. This is music of What-Is-Love level complexity, and it’s just about as absurdly fun, too—head-bumping, grin-spreading, unfettered fun.
Robin Ray is the guitarist for Seattle-based rock/ska/reggae band MOON. When not playing with them, he moonlights as a pop/dance artist. All of the songs on Robin Ray’s current release, “Quartermoon”, were written, arranged, produced & performed by Robin Ray.