When Robin Taylor Zander was working on his 2023 debut, he was convinced it was best to name the album The Distance. The songs arrived during a period of isolation and uncertainty during the pandemic and fit that particular moment in time. “It seemed apropos because it came out right after Covid,” says Zander, who wrote the majority of the album during the earlier part of 2020. By his second album, the Florida-based singer and songwriter arrived at a different place, musically and lyrically, and called it by his name.
“It didn’t make sense this time around,” says Zander of his namesake album. “It just made sense to call my name, because it’s just an honest representation of where I am as a musician.”
Robin Taylor Zander is a one-man band drifting headfirst into love, losses, and regrets by way of an unfiltered, lo-fi setting, from the lighly contrite “Blame Game,” and mellifluous ballad “Nobody’s Home.” The opening “All She Wrote,” a newer track, also reflects the breakdown and loss of communication in relationships. “It’s being self-reflective of your friendships and relationships,” shares Zander of the song. “I’m 32 years old now. So, after 32 years of living, you get a little bit of perspective on that.”
Co-produced with Jack Douglas (John Lennon, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick) and mixed by Douglas and Jay Messina (Kiss, Peter Frampton), all of the instrumentation—guitar, bass, and drums—was recorded by Zander, who also steered the vocals. Zander also wrote all of the tracks except for his cover of the Raspberries’ 1972 song, “Don’t Want to Say Goodbye,” and “She Can’t Turn Back Now,” a song his father, Cheap Trick‘s Robin Zander, originally started working on in the early ‘90s and left as an unfinished demo, which his son reworked.
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With several songs written while working on The Distance, and the remainder penned in the years that followed, some tracks on Robin Taylor Zander have more history than others.
An older track, “All American Companies,” was one Zander started writing in Nashville in 2015 while working with the band Smile, while “No More Will I Cry” reveals a “classic breakup song,” which Zander says he’s written plenty of throughout the years, and jokes, ”Hopefully that’s not a requirement for me.”
Somehow, Zander sounds like he’s come from another era, emitting drops of glam and cadence of ’60s pop, like “Ocean,” a song that transformed from a finger-picked folk song before, he says, taking more “Fleetwood Mac-y” vibes, through the closing “Out of Your Control” and “Thought of You.”
I don’t just sit down and write. I’m not a genius like Paul McCartney. I can’t just sit down and compose ‘Lady Madonna’ out of thin air.
Robin Taylor Zander
The space between his 2023 debut, The Distance, and Robin Taylor Zander was a significant one, where Zander’s surroundings also played a role, with the former album recorded during the winter at a remote location in Upstate New York and his self-titled coming together at his home studio in Tampa, Florida.
“It’s more me,” says Zander of the new album. “It sounds like it was recorded in Florida, where I grew up. But it wasn’t intentional. It’s just a product of where it was made and where a lot of it was written.”
Growing up in a musical household, he started playing ukulele at the age of 3 before graduating to guitar, drums, bass, and piano by 5. “When I was little, I would take a record and try to learn the bass part or the guitar part, then the next day try to learn the drum part and piano part,” shared Zander in a previous statement. “Then I’d sing it, and I’d be able to record it in my own.”
Since 2016, Zander has collaborated more closely with his father after temporarily replacing Cheap Trick drummer Daxx Nielsen, who welcomed his first child. He later filled in for guitarist Rick Nielsen and bassist Tom Petersson, and has remained a regular touring member, contributing guitars and backing vocals. Still on tour with the band, Zander is ready to step more into his own solo shows and material, something he’s continued chipping away at since playing with him.
Now, songwriting is something that gathers over time for Zander. “It’s more like a puzzle that you piece together,” he says. “I don’t just sit down and write. I’m not a genius like Paul McCartney. I can’t just sit down and compose ‘Lady Madonna’ out of thin air. I’d have to sit for weeks and try to come up with something that good.”
He continues, “I think you can always get better at your craft. You’re always trying to get better as a songwriter or as a co-producer or a producer.”
Well into his third album, and enough material for two more EPs, with additional songs Zander may release as singles, he has a pure sense of gratification with Robin Taylor Zander.
“I’m excited and proud of it and happy that it’s out,” says Zander, who is still connected to the songs and is looking forward to playing them live. “Once you get it out of your system,” he adds, “it’s nice to decompress and reflect on it later on.”
Photos: Jay Gilbert and Chris Schmitt
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