Grovesnor Returns

Close your eyes, slip off your irony free espadrilles, feel the chilly white and pastel poolside tiles under your toes. It’s 1984 and the wrap party for the first series of Miami Vice is heating up. Don Johnson pops another cold one and barks at the guy by the boom box to turn it up, punching the air with a ‘Yeah!’ The sound is Steely Dan and Todd Rundgren, Lionel Richie, Hall and Oates and maybe Paul Simon, all booked into an LA studio simultaneously.  Add some sub zero synths, some skittering ultra modern beats, candy brittle harmonies and vocals marinated in hot soul butter. You now have the sound of Grovesnor and his ‘Soft Return’. It’s the soul/pop album of this summer and surely destined to be slugging it out with Usher and Beyonce for the number one slot in the R&B chart, whilst nudging the Hoxton crowd self-consciously towards the dance floor.

Grovesnor is a sexy, ice cool international lothario with a set of honeyed pipes somewhere between Al Green and Don Henley. He may also be the alter ego of Rob Smoughton, former member of Hot Chip and dead ringer for your white, bearded, local Ofsted Inspector. Happier in the pub than lounging with chiquitas outside a favorite Sao Paulo bar, Rob may raise an eyebrow at the behaviour of his partner but he acknowledges Grovesnor’s ability to deliver the goods. Don’t let the easy name checking of references and light tone fool you though, there is some quality song writing here. Classic melodies, big choruses, crafted middle eights and harmonies that might get Prince asking questions. The currency here is one of positivity, where being ‘tight’ is an affirmation and song titles like ‘Nightmoves’ and ‘No Doubt About It’ are sung with an arch smile but never a cynical smirk. Here, there’s no shame in being the soundtrack to boutique shopping in Benalmadena. From the first ‘keytar’ lick to the last heartbroken falsetto, whatever Rob Smoughton’s take on his playboy shadow may be, Grovesnor is singing it like he means it.

Dazed Digital: There is definitely a particular Grovesnor universe, the carefully styilised image, the artwork, and reoccurring motifs in the lyrics. There is also a kind of narrative going on. It’s a concept album!
RS: I think of ‘prog’ suites when people mention that! I must say that does appeal to me on some level, but here, it’s about the theme and the running order that is important. There is a theme, the fact that it is a kind of journey for Grovesnor, arriving in a new city full of optimism, starting again. There are lots of highs and then, as he gets exposed to nightlife, relationships, characters etc, it all starts to get despairing and a bit dark for him as he fucks it up!

DD: It starts with a radio dial searching what sounds like West Coast FM stations. Are you setting the scene for what’s to come, or are you trying to find some quality amongst so much of the current Indie/Pop/RnB static?
Rob Smoughton: It’s the idea of getting a hire car from the airport in a strange place and tuning in the radio to find something you connect with. It’s the beginning of the album and the beginning of his journey. I do like the idea that it is an old school ‘album’ and that it should be taken as a whole rather than separate tracks.

DD: There’s a fair bit of ‘Romancin’/Dancin’/Chancin’ going on. Some ‘Illusion/Confusion’ also. With a line like ‘Shortly after someone spiked the punch at the High School reunion’ you are clearly playing with clichés…
Rob Smoughton: I don’t want to use too much cliché but, at the same time, it is a ‘homage’ I think. My friend Matt who plays bass with me says that I’m playing with the genre. I want to keep all the good things about the stuff I like but I want to amp it up a little bit though. Grovesnor is a bit of a lothario but sometimes he gets it just a bit wrong. There is quite a fair bit of tragedy in there.

DD: It seems more like a love letter to your influences. Tell us one that has been missed, I can hear (soul/jazzer) Michael Franks in there.
Rob Smoughton: Yeah, I really like Michael Franks. I like his laid back delivery and, lyrically, I like his innuendo and sexy turn of phrase. He sneaks in filthy little messages. I love that rich and polished sound too. It’s difficult to do that on a cheap budget though, especially without taking off the edge and some of the excitement.

DD: You play drums, guitars, keyboards and vocals. Is there a Prince/Todd Rundgren thing going on?
Rob Smoughton: I pretty much recorded everything but I did get some help. I took it to Al and Felix from Hot Chip and, with a great engineer called Tom Hopkins, they helped me to sweeten it up. It was mostly done at home though. There is a lot of me on there!

DD: Where do you end and Grovesnor begins?
Rob Smoughton: There is far too much of me in there to define a point but using a name that’s not my own means that I can get away with a lot more.

DD: ‘Cuckolded’, ‘She’s Leaving’, ‘Wanting Another Guy's Bride to be’… Either yourself or Grovesnor are having a tough time.
Rob Smoughton: Everything is seen from Grovesnor’s point of view but making it a bit more twisted. Like on the song ‘Dan’ he is in love with his best friend's girl, which is obviously a reference to a common theme in pop. In Grovesnor’s case, because of his luck, he gets asked to be the best man!

DD: Does your ‘look’ get in the way?
Rob Smoughton: People either go with it or they don’t. If they are prepared to forget about being too trendy then they will get it I think. And maybe have a bit of fun with it.

DD: There must be pressure on you to look ‘cool’ though, especially if You are trying to sell Steely Dan guitar solos to the ‘Skins’ generation?
Rob Smoughton: Y’know, a white bloke in his thirties with a beard and a beer belly singing the word ‘baby’ a lot – there are going to be some questions (laughs).

DD: Your music has so much Pop/Soul DNA in it that some of the songs feel like covers. Who would be first choice to cover one of yours?
Rob Smoughton: I’ve heard some nice covers by Chromeo, doing a couple of Hall and Oates songs, which are great. I also like a guy called Ariel Pink, who is involved with Animal Collective. He is well out there on his own. I’ve always been a big Billy Joel fan too – although he is not without his faults (laughs).

DD: Why don’t you move to LA and write for Smokey and Lionel?
Rob Smoughton: I would love too! I don’t consciously think about it but the stuff that I grew up with and like listening to obviously sticks with me and finds its way into the music.

DD: There are some choice ‘Beats’ underneath the songs.
Rob Smoughton: There will be a remix EP to come out later because the songs do open up to dance music but I don’t know if I am the right person to do it. I like the idea of giving them up to people who are looking at them from another angle. I’m excited about it because I love great dance music. There will be one nice, squelchy bass, almost RnB mix coming out. There is a guy called Sam Graw who goes under the name ‘Hatchback’. He is doing one and he makes this wonderful kind of cosmic disco, almost krautrock stuff that is just wonderful.

DD: You are in your early thirties, how come you are not making Hip Hop or strapping on an indie rock guitar instead of ‘laying down’ sax solos?
Rob Smoughton: Well, like most people, the music I grew up with kind of stuck with me for a while. As a kid I was influenced a lot by listening to music in the back of my Dad’s car, stuff like The Eagles, The Byrds, Talking Heads, a bit of reggae. When I got to University, I got into Hip Hop and dance music and then I was in an instrumental post-rock band for a while. Initially, the skinny jean guitar brigade seduced me but, well, it just became overkill. Eventually I just kind of fell back to the music that resonates really personally with me.

DD: Is there something about Grovesnor we don’t know yet?
Rob Smoughton: He has a twin brother who helps him write the songs and, although he is a bit embarrassed of him, keeps him on the straight and narrow.

‘Soft Return’ by Grovesnor is released April 26th on Lo Recordings.