Robin Skinner, known better by his stage name Cavetown, is well on his way to becoming one of the biggest up and coming singer-songwriters of this decade. Being only 22 years old, Skinner’s latest album release, Sleepyhead, is already his 7th full studio album to date, and he shows no signs of slowing down. If you haven’t already heard of Cavetown, it’s time to get familiar.

Skinner rose to success as a young teenager with his popular YouTube channel, uploading ukulele covers of famous songs as well as some original songs of his own. Even as a teenager, it was clear that there was a huge amount of potential laying within, and that Cavetown would be a major hit.

As Skinner’s popularity started to grow on his YouTube channel, so did his musical talent and ambition. Pulling in over millions of views on covers of songs from artists such as Twenty One Pilots, Ed Sheeran, and Justin Bieber, Skinner saw that there was a large market for his raw, homemade sound. Maybe more impressive than his growing success is his self-taught production skills, leading him to be much more musically mature than most aspiring artists his age. He writes every song by himself in his bedroom, yet manages to create such universally relatable and beloved music to his fans.

A typical Cavetown song is usually a very deep and personal one, filled with hidden meanings about Skinner’s life, as well as that of those around him. A good example of this is a song that jump started Cavetown’s popularity; “Lemon Boy.” The track itself puts on an innocent enough face, yet lying underneath are messages about Skinner’s own negative personality traits. His way of coping with his negative thoughts is to pretend they are a friend he needs to comfort, much like the lemon boy in his song. Another example of this is one of my personal favorites, “Boys Will Be Bugs.” The song takes you through the mind of a young teenager learning to fit in, and the range of emotions and feelings experienced that come with growing up. One moment they will proclaim that “I’m a big boy now and I’m very scary,” yet reveal their soft side when no-ones looking with “I really need a hug.” Skinner’s ability to tell a deep story while tying in some really groovy and complex musical elements really highlight his talent as a musician.

 

 

Each of Cavetown’s albums find Skinner experimenting with different musical styles of indie pop, alternative, electronic, and hip hop, allowing his music to resonate with different audiences. Lemon Boy hosts some of Skinner’s brighter music and more creative songwriting, while Cavetown is a much more mellow and dreamy album, featuring a mix of acoustic and electronic elements that have carried over into some later work such as Sleepyhead.

It’s no surprise that Cavetown has reached the popularity it has already, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find Skinner’s success to carry him to levels comparable to those artists who he looked up to and covered on his YouTube channel all those years ago.