Robin Mullarkey Finally Drops His Debut Solo Album “Black Swan” and Reveals the Gear Powering His Jacob Collier Tours
Robin Mullarkey is one of the most influential bassists on the scene today. His work with Brotherly was a major force in the UK’s broken beat movement, blending academic jazz and contemporary dance to turn heads and shake hips. Most recently, he’s been on tour with the musical genius Jacob Collier, who describes Mullarkey as a “purveyor of the finest low notes.”
As much music as he has written, he’s never released his own solo album. Until now.
Black Swan is comprised of twelve songs recorded over two days in October 2024. Mullarkey shared the lead single, “Bring Own Ball,” in July as a preview of the album’s direction.
“For this record, rather than the intricately arranged, vocal-led bedroom production that attracted so many musos over the past 2 decades, I’ve gone for a more visceral improvised sound, harnessing the impeccable spontaneous instincts of a heavyweight London-based band,” he explains.
Mullarkey is joined by drummer Richard Spaven, guitarist Dave Okumu, saxophonist Graeme Blevins, keyboardist Tom Cawley, percussionist Will Fry, and vocalist Eska to bring his compositions to life. Each musician brings a lot to the sound, as many of the compositions were written as simple pieces to capture the magic that improvisers can bring to an idea. That’s not to say the music is unsophisticated.
“For those hunting the progressive beats (‘System’ by Brotherly is often known to musicians for the sophisticated time-shift paired with simple and singable top-line), the polymetric cycles of rhythm and harmony present in ‘Lingua Franca’ (featuring the incredible bass clarinet of Graeme Blevins) and the fiery outro to my stripped back interpretation of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’ should get you excited,” Mullarkey explains on Bandcamp. “But elsewhere, ‘Bring Own Ball,’ ‘The Quease’ and ‘In The Fluvial Flow’ are stripped back compositions allowing the musicians to breathe and explore. It was a joy to see the tunes instantly brought to life and for once I allowed myself to really play bass!”
Check out “Lingua Franca”:
Black Swan is out now on vinyl and as a digital download through Bandcamp, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and more.
Mullarkey is renowned for his incredible tone as much as his amazing writing, and we were lucky enough to catch up with him this summer to get the full rundown on his tour rig. See what he uses on the road with Jacob Collier, including his basses and clever pedalboard setup.
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
