This new release by Robert Temple comes on the heels of leading two major bay area bands and 3 years of playing solo. This cd introduces a new Robert Temple, more focused than ever. The production is tight yet spacious enough to hear the depth of the lyrics and the power of robert’s voice. Is he a protest singer, a balladeer, a tongue in cheek philosopher? Only thing for sure, whether he’s fingerpicking in some open tuning or banging on his guitar in his powerful and funky style, Robert’s voice, the song, the vocal and the arrangement get people to listen. It is an emotive music tinged with rock, folk and funk. Through it all, Robert’s voice is the guiding instrument. It is at once smooth and rough, gentle and hardened by life’s realities and struggles. It is stories about people you care about, people struggling to find a way in a society that throws its most dispossessed to the wind. It’s also stories of people close to the heart, those we sometimes have the most trouble relating to. A song like “Who Drops the Bomb on the Ones Who Drop the Bomb” rings truer now then when it was written in 1999. “A Lot Like You” is both searing and strong in it’s plea to heal a torn relationship.
