My #1 Album is two years old
And I have something to tell you
It’s two years since my collaboration album “One In A Thousand” topped the Official UK Independent Albums Chart, and I have something to tell you.
Something strange and magical happens when people come together to make music. There’s an unexplainable connection that means the songs written could never have existed without exactly those people being involved, at exactly that time and in exactly that way.
That’s what Obey Robots is. And here’s what we made.
How it happened
I’ve been a solo artist since 2010, with my sixth album due out six weeks today. After playing in lots of bands as a teen and in my 20’s, I decided I wanted to explore my own inner world without compromising with multiple other people, and it’s been a really fun creative adventure.
In 2019 Rat (the guitarist from Ned’s Atomic Dustbin) came across the video for my song “Drown Me Out” on YouTube. He was spending some time recording his guitar ideas with Miles Hunt of The Wonder Stuff, and asked Miles if he’d heard of me. “She’s a friend”1, M replied, before introducing us by email.
As you can imagine, I was beyond delighted to discover that the songs I’d been putting out into the world since 2010 had impressed one of my favourite guitarists. We decided to see what we could make together and, building on his brilliant source material, I wrote and produced the songs that became “One In A Thousand”, emailing each new finished section to Rat over email to ever more enthusiastic responses.
Fun fact: I’ll never forget cutting up the “Porcupine” guitar riff, layering instruments and vocals to make a spiky song and then completely forgetting to send it to Rat for a few weeks. But it was worth the wait 🦔
How it went
Every time I finish an album I hope that it will go and do *something* in the world, but I never know what that *something* will be.
“One In A Thousand” was the first time I totally gave up on trying to get reviews and radio play, because I knew that talking directly to music fans was all I was interested in spending my energy on. And after his major label experiences, I know Rat was excited by the DIY nature of the way I’ve been doing things since first sharing my music online in 2009. He was fully on board, and I worked very hard with the release to make sure his trust in me was not misplaced!
I hoped “One In A Thousand” would have an impact, but we could never have predicted the warm wave of support that we received. October 2022 to March 2023 was a very exciting time, and that’s all down to the generous support of music fans.
Our totally independently produced and released record went to #14 in the Official UK Albums Chart and #1 in the Official Independent Albums Chart – and we have the trophies to prove it.
What the heck?!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH ❤️
So, what’s next?
Every time someone asks when the next Obey Robots album is coming out, or when we’re going to tour, it’s a huge compliment. Thank you.
It feels like the right moment to say that neither of these things are currently happening. We never planned to tour, and we never planned to start a band.
Rat is developing some music with another collaborator, which I’m excited to cheer on from the sidelines, and as you may have picked up from this post, my whole life is about making albums into the long-distant future.
My new album “House Of Stories” is out on 18th April, and I’ve been releasing a new single and video every month.
If you’re a “Porcupine” fan, start with “Space, Man” 👽🚀
And as for Obey Robots: never say never, but we honestly have no plans for anything at the moment except a regular video chat to stay in touch.
We still have CDs, a few cassettes and the last tees and hoodies in my shop.
We both hope “One In A Thousand” continues to find its audience into the future. I’m so proud of what we made. Massive thanks always to Milo for putting us in touch, and to Rat for the YouTube binge that brought us together, and the wonderful guitar demos!
Love,
Laura xxx
PS get your copy of “House Of Stories” here. SIX WEEKS WOO
I met Miles in 2011 after a gig where I sang backing vocals for another musical hero, Carina Round. A real pinch-me-am-I-dreaming? moment. He and Erica Nockalls took a copy of my debut album home and have stayed in touch ever since. They say never meet your heroes, but some of them are absolutely wonderful humans.
This is so cool to get more context on the formation of Obey Robots two years after OIAT was released. I love it that "Drown Me Out" was the catalyst, as it's probably my favorite SMW song.
Your hard work and chart success’ have always been incredibly inspiring. Keep being amazing, you show clearly that through hard work and determination the impossible can become the possible.