Robert Vincent on Overcoming Barriers

Singer-songwriter Robert Vincent, known for his introspective take on Americana and powerful storytelling, has released his fourth studio album Barriers. He talks about how the album reflects his personal journey, exploring themes of emotional growth and overcoming life’s challenges. His latest work live can be seen at The Tung Auditorium in Liverpool on 7 December where he will play a homecoming show.

Barriers is described as more personal and intimate than your previous work. What was the inspiration behind this introspective shift in your songwriting?

I suppose just life happening and then the process is to document that, sometimes sub-consciously, but I’ve never been one to write about things that are narrative or fiction. I’m fairly obsessed with the human condition, just this time the focus seemed to turn onto me. 

Did the experience of lockdown influence its creative process?

It really didn’t influence anything, I found it an incredibly unproductive time. I had no inclination to write about the lockdown or to try and force the creative process. I wrote one lyric and song, ‘The Beast Inside’, which I think was my worries and fears about that time and if this was it, then what would I be without performance and music. It’s a deeply anxious song. Also I wrote it whilst I had covid, which I didn’t realise at the time and I had lost my voice, hence the opening line.

What does the album title represent to you, both personally and creatively?

Barriers, and the title track are about overcoming certain barriers in life. I had gone through a breakdown in my relationship during lockdown and then a couple of years later, fell in love again, so there were emotional and personal barriers to overcome and the songs came very quickly about that particular situation. I find it terribly hard to separate the things I say in songs from what happens in my life, they’re diaries, snapshots of moments in my life. So life was imitating art in this case. 

The lead track, “The Insider” touches on themes of authoritarianism. How important is it for you to address current social and political issues in your music?

It is hugely important to me, I think music is at its best when it addresses politics and things that affect people. I certainly don’t buy into telling musicians to stick to music and not talk about what bothers them in songs. If anything we need more of it. ‘The Insider’ is about the people behind the faces we see in politics, the darker underbelly of a more sinister world. It all sounds fantastical, but I think there is truth in it. Certainly for myself and a lot of people the political landscape of the last 4 or 5 years has placed a whole bunch of barriers in our way. Music has become bland and homogenised in my honest opinion, we all need to speak out more in music. 

Ethan Johns has been a key collaborator. How has his influence shaped the sound of Barriers as well as your other records?

I sent Ethan the record after I got pretty stuck in my own loop of where I wanted it to be and he pulled it together with a whole ton of instrumentation and mixed, basically produced it. He’s a genius in that sense, it came out like I had wanted it to, but couldn’t quite achieve. I think that’s because I’ve always been influenced by his sound before I knew him. So he’s always been an influence and it always makes sense to me what he does with my music.

Your previous album In This Town You’re Owned was praised for its social commentary. How do you balance personal reflection with broader societal themes in your work?

I think how I said before, I write about the things that affect me the most in that moment, sometimes it’s a whole body of work in an album or just a particular song. I have to go with it rather than balance or guide it. ‘In This Town You’re Owned’ was influenced by everything in the lead up to Brexit and Trump. The world changed for the worse around that time, social media became a tool of influence over people and we’re still reaping the consequences of that and will do so for a long time as far as I can see. 

With Barriers being your fourth studio album, how do you think your songwriting has evolved over the years?

It’s definitely evolved. I think I’m better and getting better, I have to believe that. I think I’ve always found that honesty is so important with my writing, so I find new ways of being honest. 

Further information

Robert Vincent plays the Tung Auditorium on Saturday 7th December. It is part of a series of homecoming shows this Autumn.

More information on his other live dates and Barriers can be found at robertvincentmusic.com