Robert Sotelo announces 'Celebrant' album, new single revealed!

Time to celebrate the arrival of ‘Celebrant’, Robert Sotelo’s classy new album of pristine DIY pop out Nov 12th on Upset The Rhythm! 

Today we’re announcing this ambitious synth-centric collection of unbridled songs with Sotelo’s ultra-catchy first single ‘Influencer’. ‘Influencer’ is released today as a digital single in all habitual zones and in this mind-warping video of Sotelo’s cryogenically-preserved head reanimated in song, yes really!

‘Celebrant’ is available to pre-order now in our UTR webshop, heads you win!
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Sotelo is a mercurial melodist building a resplendent world of pristine DIY pop from the ground up. The Glasgow-based artist’s songs are meticulously crafted, patchworked together with eclectic arrangements and ardent vocal performances. ‘Celebrant’ was intended to be and still is to some extent a joyous wedding album (Sotelo is recently married), but in his own words “the pandemic and the death of my aunt Carmen intersected with the original concept so the album is darker than intended in places.” More cinematic and measured than prior albums, Sotelo expounds that “it is purposefully a bigger sounding attempt at my keyboard songs and I felt more ambitious about it in general.” That’s certainly reflected in these twelve sophisticated loops of song, all curiously affecting and catchy, sprinkled with Sotelo’s offbeat musings and keenly accurate observations. Guitars are rarely employed on this record with Sotelo recruiting Iain Mccall, Ross Blake, Celia Morgan and David Maxwell to contribute brass, woodwind, spoken word and acoustic drums respectively. All of these additions blend well with the album’s synthetic core, softening and subtly shaping its pop-first nature into something more nuanced, vulnerable and human.

With ‘Celebrant’ Robert Sotelo has made an album that sounds as big as its heart and imagination, true depth of feeling, true depth of connection. It’s an ornate album, complex and thoughtful, a fitting tribute to a wedding in unsettled times. What a treat that we’ve all been invited to the reception!