Not only is performing songwriter Robin Renée not afraid to listen to what the voices in her head tell her, but she makes that intuition real. It was a sudden moment of awareness and listening in an everyday bookstore that once lead Renée to a California adventure, new music, and unfolding opportunity. It was seeing the "vision" of David Bowie in a dress on Saturday Night Live that lead the young Robin to realize that she could be anyone and all she is meant to be. It was an inner light experience that pointed the way toward renewed spirituality and the chant vibe that has woven seamlessly into her life and work. It was a dream that involved a billboard, oversize sunglasses, a drag bar, and fire ants that lead to her latest: spirit.rocks.sexy - mantra-pop headlines from the clairaudient dreams of the evocative Robin Renée (March 2009).
spirit.rocks.sexy is a celebration of what Robin Renée does best. Featuring two previously unrecorded live show favorites - the lyrically arresting, AAA radio-friendly "The Other End of the Line" and bluesy "You're In Demand" - plus tracks from three acclaimed releases - In Progress, All Six Senses, and Live Devotion, spirit.rocks.sexy brings together the smart pop rock ("I Don't Wear Sweaters"), East-meets-West devotional sounds ("Jai Ma"), and the simmering love and eros ("My Bride") that have continued to define her.
Renée's accessible tunes with a spiritual twist have forged her own genre - Mantra-Pop - and its development can be heard across the sounds of spirit.rocks.sexy. She began this leg of the journey with In Progress (2000), which was applauded in much alternative press across the U.S. All Six Senses (2002), stands as the real-life chronicle of one caught in the act of cosmic transformation. It was produced by Scott Mathews, who has worked with artists as fabulous as George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Elvis Costello, Patti LaBelle and many more. Live Devotion (2007) is Renée's first recording dedicated wholly to sacred chant.
Robin Renée claims personal favorites and influences from acts as disparate as Elvis Costello, Krishna Das, James Taylor, Gary Wilson, and Devo. In the biracial, multicultural family in which she grew up, the blended experience extended easily to music. She was just as likely to take a ride on Gladys Knight's "Midnight Train to Georgia" as to drive along Kraftwerk's "Autobahn," and the easy-going sounds of "You've Got a Friend" were as common as Dylan's acerbic "Masters of War."
Ultimately, spirit.rocks.sexy, and all of Renée's work emerges from the in-betweens. She lives and writes at the crossroads, in the fusion of sexuality, spirituality, and sound. So far, those inner voices she hears still insist on this mantra: Live for your truth, keep it real, and make music that matters.
